The Big Break Up

Dear Bangs,
You are really great and have always been there for me. The past couple of years have been filled with many adventures, lots of laughter and fun times. I've met some great friends through you, but I think it's time to move on. It's not you...it's me, I think we've just grown apart. I know it's going to be a really hard but hopefully not too awkward of a transition, I can't really imagine my life without you but it's time to shake things up and try something new. We might find our way back to each other someday but for now I must say goodbye to you.
xo,
Alison

Nerd Crush...

So I have serious obsession with Franklin Roosevelt. I read a biography about his presidency during WWII, No Ordinary Time, and ever since then I cannot get enough of him!

Luckily for me the cutest mom in the world, mine (!) shares my love of FDR. Although not quite to the same degree.

Last time my mom visited NYC we went up to the Roosevelt home and FDR presidential library. It was amazing, all things Roosevelt! Even the bus from the train station to the house was Roosevelt themed.

Taking photos with this bronze version of the Roosevelt's was a highlight of my day. The statues were slightly sketchy but super awesome!

I recently went to a cocktail/happy hour thing at the Roosevelt's NYC home. It was just renovated and will be the home of a new Policy program at Hunter College. They took us on a tour of the home where I learned that I knew more about the Roosevelt's then the tour guide.

I totally would've been the president of his re-election campaign. I have serious admiration for the way he ran the country during 2 difficult times in history. It takes serious guts to govern during times of crisis and he led the US through the depression and WWII. During the depression the Roosevelt administration had the kind of out of the box thinking that simply doesn't and quite possibly couldn't exist in today's political culture, even though it seems as though in this moment in history we are in desperate need for it!

ABC Family's Moral Dilemma...?

So I always assumed that ABC Family was a channel geared towards family friendly programming, you know the kinds of shows I'm talking about, shows with some sort or moral message. Basically a bunch of shows just like 7th Heaven, my idea of a nightmare. Well, their version of family shows is just plain weird and their "messages" are buried pretty deep and are often hard to find.

ABC Family is responsible for Secret Lives of the American Teenager, apparently teenagers secret lives involve sex and teen pregnancy. Let's get real, that's not really that big of a secret, right? I sadly don't watch this show so I can't really speak to it's message, but I think we can all pretty much assume how it goes. Smart girl makes a poor choice, has sex, gets pregs, must deal with the consequences of being a teen mom. She must navigate between trying to maintain her normal teenage life with being a mom. She must keep the baby because girls with morals don't do abortions or I guess adoptions...although if that happened there would be no show would there?

Sadly I do watch (and shamefully enjoy) Make It Or Break It, a show about a bunch of teenager gym stars and the drama of their lives. Being an elite gymnast is surprisingly dramatic. There's the poor girl who is forced to take a job to help support her family, her boss is a "meth head". Yes they actually refer to her as a "meth head". Then there's the overly insecure girl who got drunk and lost her precious virginity to her BFF's boyfriend and then spends the rest of the season trying to make up with the BFF and also scheming of ways to make the boyfriend fall madly in love with her. Along with underage, sex, drinking, drug use and lying by the kids we also have cheating, lying and shit talking parents. None of this seems very family friendly, does it? Well enter Candace Cameron's character, remember her from Full House? Well she's the sexy single gym manager who despite being a teenage slut now practices abstinence and preaches about Jesus and his love all while being a huge cock tease, I mean flirt! Well alrighty then, apparently under all that dramz is some kind of convoluted moral message. I guess Jesus is the magic word that gives morality to any situation...I'm going to have to remember that, thanks ABC Family.

ABC Family has a new "hit" on it's hands which signals a move away from message shows and towards campy, over stylized, over dramatic teen soap operas that seem to be targeted more for adults than teens. I don't have kids or anything but if I did, sure wouldn't let them watch this show. Centered around the lives of 4 best friends and the murder of their other best friend; it's basically a weird mystery. They are being stalked and tormented by either the girl who was supposed to be killed or the killer. Sounds confusing right? Mix in a little student teacher affair, sexuality issues, shop lifting in order to get attention, slutty single moms and cheating spouses you have a very entertaining 45 minutes of TV.

The Joy of Sunday Funday

There are so many activities to take advantage of when you live in a city like New York, it can be slightly overwhelming. However in an attempt to have a super fun summer despite the heat and be more adventurous I'm determined to do more of the free stuff this city offers.
First on my list...Summerstage, a (mostly) free concert series in Central Park. A couple weeks ago on a very hot, very muggy afternoon Raphael Saadiq played and it was the perfect opportunity to lounge with friends and a great way to beat the heat!

When I have to have a no bang day, you know it's humid, sticky and hot!

Good music, good snacks and sangria are perfect ingredients for an awesome Sunday funday with the ladies

It was also a great day to make new friends, or at least friends for the day!

Tried to be "sneaky" and get a pic with this guys shirt. Don't think it worked!

I love that outdoor concerts are the types of events where everyone can have fun

Some people napped

I am fascinated by what I see as a reemerging trend to use one's shirt/cleavage situation as a holding place for stuff. This girl was holding her Blackberry in her crop top.

Most people danced...I found this woman very entertaining.

Ok, so I hate socks and shoes and would like to be barefoot all the time if I could but it was like 100 and humid this day, how in the world was this person wearing socks!? I do have to give props for the Annie blanket though!

Saw this sign right outside the venue. Not a very welcoming family, right?

Another Steamy Day...

This is my official "it's hotter than hell NYC" jam of the day.

I don't want to seem like I'm complaining about the heat, because I'm not. It's totally hot, humid and gross out, but it's better than it being freezing puffy coat weather. I mean in reality in this kind of weather I'm only out of an air conditioned area for like less than an hour a day. As long as my hair is up and I have a fan when I'm outside it's totally fine, sweaty but fine. However, I will be happier when the mugginess goes away.

I love Bananarama and I just learned this song came out in July 1983, 27 years ago! Isn't that wild? It's hard to believe that the 80s were so long ago. I'm totally digging on the haircuts and all the overalls.

They Should Be Called Genius Phones....

I've often said that the iPhone changed my life, well until recently I wasn't sure exactly how much. A few days ago the most amazing deal came my way that I just couldn't pass up. A friend was looking to send an iPhone to someone overseas and offered me $150 for mine! This means that I can get the new iPhone for $50, which is amazing because as a slave to every new product available I've been drooling over the new iPhone! Unfortunately what I didn't realize is that that the phone was sold out everywhere! I had to sell my phone immediately so what do I do in the mean time? I can't go without a phone. Well I was able to borrow a friend’s old hot pink razor and this is when I realized that my life is dependent on the technology that the iPhone provides
The day I got the razor I had to run a bunch of errands and unlike the past few years I actually had to know where I was going. I'm used to being able to quickly Google map any location I'm trying to go and get exact subway directions, including where on the platform to stand in order to exist close to my destination. On this day I had none of that and just happened to be carrying a 15lb bag of cat litter around; needless to say I would've loved my iPhone in that moment. The other thing I can't believe I ever lived without is a full keyboard; texting on a flip phone is a nightmare!
I was lucky enough to borrow a very quirky and confusing phone with a full keyboard from another friend. Once I can figure out how to do things like turn it on/off it will totally tide me over just fine until I get my new phone. I think all in all this will be a good experience for me. It’s probably for the best to slow down and be disconnected to technology and maybe more connected to the world for a while; but just a very short while! In today's fast paced world smart phones seem to be almost a necessity; we are just too dependent/addicted on technology to not be able to check email at any time, take a funny picture and upload it to Facebook immediately, or find a bar/restaurant in an unfamiliar neighborhood. I definitely appreciate the ease and convenience smart phones have brought to our lives and I won’t take my pretty new phone for granted at all!

WTF Wednesday...Damn You Apple!

So I'm a marketing person's wet dream. I basically feel like I need every new product that comes out! It ranges from snacks to shoes to electronics, if it's new I want it! My newest craving is the iPad, I am so mad at Apple for their clever ad campaign that I'm convinced was made especially so I would go crazy lusting over this new gadget. When it was first introduced I was confused as to what the iPad was, I thought it was a really big phone. When I found out what it was I thought it seemed pointless and way to expensive.
Well that was until this commercial which uses colorful adjectives to make me drool: thin, beautiful and magical. They called it a revolution and I love to be ahead of the trends. It's like they knew some of my favorite things and have worked them into the commercial just to tempt me! They used both Winnie the Pooh and Edward Kennedy's memoir True Compass (I love the Kennedy's) and it's working...I'm tempted! The worst part is that it still seems slightly pointless and way too expensive only now I don't care, I just want to own it! Damn you Apple!