The Great Trip of 2010…
In t minus 3 days I will be arriving at the SFO airport to board United flight 0114 for a short hop to LA. I will meander my way over to the international terminal, searching for my mother who’ll be waiting at the gate to board our LAN flight to Lima, Peru.
AHHHHH…ONLY 3 MORE DAYS! SO excited! 
Add comment May 25, 2010
Crimson and Clover – Peek into Cassy’s World
A view into Cassy’s World …warning…
Tonight I drag myself to the shower shortly after midnight. As I pull aside the shower curtain to turn on the warm heavenly water that I love so much I realize that once again I forgotten to clean it. I was supposed to clean it last weekend and when Tuesday night rolled around I promised myself I would put it off no longer and do it tomorrow. Wednesday night was date night with the bath tub and Tilex. So, here it is Wednesday night. Being the night owl I am I was still full of energy at midnight:15. So I fetch the Tilex and magic porcelain tub cleaner, man I bless the day I found that cleaner, and begin to work. Disturbing I know. I am also fully aware that my marathon energy bursts this late at night, of which I have many, are a dream to some. Couple that with bathroom cleaning past midnight and we have a cake topper. Little do you know that’s not the half of it! I previously heard Crimson and Clover on a TV show I was watching online, a show who’s name I will not mention because it is of the guilty pleasure genre and I would be ashamed to admit I rot my brain watching it. So, I just heard that song and fell head over heels in love with it as if it was the first time I’d ever heard it. I immediately download it..well not just it but two versions of it. The classic version and the Joan Jett version. I sync my iPhone and create an On the Go playlist of just those two songs. I put it on repeat and shuffle, grab the Tilex and begin dancing away with my handy red and white scrubber in hand. Yes, I obsessively download music like this all the time, at all hours of the day and night. I will continue to obsessively listen to this song over and over again, somewhat like “crimson and clover…over and over…”, on the bus to and from work, when I get home and in the car until I am sick of it. It’s my favorite annoying habit. Small things like this make me soo happy and are a big reason I refuse to live in the real world, only Cassy’s World. I am actually swaying to the song as I type this little Cassy’s World Tour – entry 5. Wait, we’re not done yet. Back to cleaning the tub. Step one is done, I have Tilexed the tile and shower curtain. Step two is the tub scrubbing… I rinse the Tilex, sprinkle the tub with the magic rub, hee…a little rhyme, scrub away, wait 5 minutes and rinse. As I hang up the shower head from the rinse I turn to inspect my tub and squeal with delight. SO BRIGHT AND WHITE! So, here I am. It’s about midnight:30. I am cleaning my bathroom, dancing around and playing air guitar to Crimson and Clover and squealing at the sight of a beautifully white bath tub that looks so clean it could be brand spanken new. I pause to take in my reaction and realize that my little world makes me so happy which makes me even more happy…which makes me laugh at myself and prompted this little blog entry.
AHHHHHHH……..well as you come walking over…..now I’ve been waiting to show her……Crimson and Clover……over and over……
Add comment April 8, 2010
Ode to 2009
I was sitting with some folks today talking about how 2009 got such a bad rap. I believe 2010 will be even better but I’m kind of sad to see 2009 go. It was one of the best years I’ve had in over 5 years, and here are just a few of the reasons why.
1. I discovered Swissmiss.com – a site that brings creativity to my desktop front door every day. I’m almost guaranteed to find something every week that makes me squeal with delight.
2. I accomplished my life’s dream of cage diving with great white sharks in South Africa. Yes, I’ve livd a short life so far but that makes this experience even sweeter…clearing the way for new life dreams!
3. I got to spend a spectacularly fun-filled week in Hawaii for my best friend Rachel’s 30th birthday. Kauai is my favorite Hawaiian island and spending a week there is like a week in heaven.
4. I flew home for a quick three day extravaganza to celebrate my 10yr. high school reunion. Not only did I have an awesome time getting drenched and handing out candy during the parade as well as partying it up till 3am at the local dive bar but I reconnected with some of my dearest friends from high school. Yes there’s Facebook but nothing is better than reminiscing in person over a cocktail in plastic cup back home.
5. Just one small note about work, I moved into Mobile interaction design and it has proven to be just what I was looking for – a new challenge!
6. I met one of the most influential persons in my life over the past 6 years and her wondrous name is Yasmin. Best gift a girl could ask for on her birthday and it kept getting better after that. Cheers to new friends and all the gloriously positive influence she has brought to my life. She honestly has changed my life, perspective and may have largely contributed to the deflation of my wallet.
7. I lost 13 pounds! Not only does that make me super excited, and a bit dumbfounded that I had 13 pounds to loose, but it was so easy! I’m still loosing a few most this year too. Looking forward to it, even if I only have al limited closet to I settle on my weight to be.
8. I discovered the infinite joy of Etsy.com and all the lovely treasures I so enjoy every day. Cheers to creative arts who decorate my body with their mind’s jems.
9. I discovered yoga and it was a health Godsend. It makes my body and mind feel so much better and I even have a nice set of feminine little pistolas to scare away all those bad guys. Who knew you could combine relaxation and exercise. Who knew I say!?!
10. And lastly, well last for this list because this list could go on for quite awhile, I love my new found obsession with dresses. Unfortunately right now I’m really hate that obsession because it’s too cold, but dresses are one of life’s simple pleasures. They are super comfortable, sexy, feminine, versatile and make my morning so much easier. I dread the task of picking out a daily outfit and with dresses I just have to pick one thing, grab some shoes and waaa laaa…off to enjoy my day.
Now I realize that I’m one out of several bazillion persons who got lucky enough to have an amazing 2009 but I’m sure there are a few things you also enjoyed about 2009…maybe a favorite food you discovered or a moment filled with laughter. Whatever the little nugget of joy you might have had in 2009, I suggest you write them down so that you can look back on this year in the future and remember what was good about 2009, not what was so bad.
Here’s a toast to days lived and those to come. CHEERS!
Add comment January 7, 2010
Back to 6:30am Yoga
Today marks my return to 6:30am yoga classes. It was just as awesome as I remembered. Sandra, my motivational instructor who is so sweet, along with her yorkie were in attendance when I arrived. My downstairs neighbor was also waiting for me with bright eyes. She always seems so much more awake than I am in the morning, then again everyone is. As 7:30am and the end of the class arrived I began to heartily pat myself on the back for finally getting back to this good habit. I felt awesome! Energized, centered, focused and overall just giddily happy. Of course, Sandra’s beautiful,”You’ve lost weight haven’t you? You look just perfect now!” comment helped to boost my already elevated mood. What a great Tuesday this has been already. I must now prepare for my 2pm crash…yoga high only lasts so long my friends.
Add comment December 1, 2009
Happy Halloween from Mia Wallace (a.k.a. Mrs. Marcellus Wallace from Pulp Fiction)
Add comment October 30, 2009
What I Am At Work
This is what describes me at work, according to the Clifton Strengths Inventory by Gallup. They are in order of strongest to less strong, these being the top 5. I think there are over 15 strengths you can have.
1. Activator: people strong in the Activator theme can make things happen by turning thoughts into action. They are often impatient.
2. Empathy: People strong in the Empathy theme can sense the feelings of other people by imagining themselves in others’ lives or others’ situations. Empathy should not be confused with sympathy.
3. Adaptability: People strong in the Adaptability theme prefer to “go with the flow.” They tend to be “now” people who take things as they come and discover the future one day at a time.
4. Competition: People strong in the Competition theme measure their progress against the performance of others. They strive to win first place and revel in contests.
5. Achiever: People strong in the Achieve theme have a great deal of stamina and work hard. They take great satisfaction from being busy and productive.
Me in a 5 strength nutshell.
Add comment August 11, 2009
Examples of Product Comparison Tables
I’d love to see us embrace some of the techniques employed in these examples. For example, I love how examples #1,2 and 29 use visual cues to communicate the option sizes to the user. I also love the simple terminology used in example #8. Very easy to understand, except Agent. I’m not sure what that means. I also like the tab design of example #5. The design not only uses a different visual color or outline to distinguish the selected tab they made it bigger.
Add comment August 10, 2009
Maker on a Manager Schedule – That’s me
This blog explains it all, why I get soo excited to have a day with no meetings and why meetings are so exhausting for some of us…because we’re makers! We need time. http://paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html
Add comment July 23, 2009
