Happy 2012! I stopped making resolutions a couple years ago because all I do set myself up for disappointment. But, now that we’re almost 1/4 of the way through January, I find myself thinking of things I want to do this year that will help me grow…aka: resolutions! So, what are they?

I want to run
In preparation for the zombie apocalypse in December of this year, I want to start running. Just kidding about the zombie apocalypse part. But I really do want to start running. For anyone who knows me, pick your jaw up off the floor. I don’t know why but over the last month or so, I’ve had a serious urge to try my hand at running. And I’m gonna do it. I even started looking up tips for beginners so I don’t injure or kill myself. Will I stick to it? Who knows. But I want to give it a try, especially since I feel my body is actually telling me to do it. And Daffy would make an excellent partner!

I want to eat healthier
No, I’m not going to diet. I want to change how I eat. Permanently. Does that mean I’m giving up all that is bad for me? Hell no! But, as I learned the last time I lost a lot of weight, the key is moderation. I didn’t deprive myself of anything but still managed to lose 20+ lbs. Unfortunately (and fortunately), when I quit smoking, I gained that back plus about 20 more.  So, I want to follow what worked for me last time, just a little healthier with more fruits and veggies. And I’ve already started by replacing my no-breakfast plan with a super healthy smoothie that I love and now can’t start my day without. It easily has 3-4 servings of fruits/veggies in it!

I want to go to yoga classes
Are you noticing a trend yet? I’ve actually been wanting to do this one for a while but have been having a hard time finding a class close enough to where I live without having to go into Philly. Everyone I know who has practiced yoga has loved it and benefited greatly from it.  In addition to the exercise, it’d be an excellent de-stresser and help me to focus. I finally found a class that’s not too far from me and seems pretty inexpensive. Now I just have to pick up the phone.

I want to get control of my anxiety
For those who don’t know me very well, I have really bad anxiety. It’s actually two different kinds: general anxiety and social anxiety. The first one’s not too bad anymore but the social anxiety is a little out of control. I’ve actually hidden from people I know that I see in stores. Now, that’s just sad. As my very close friends would tell you, it’s gotten a little better but, I definitely still need a lot of work. When I’m confronted with large groups of people, people I don’t know well, or strangers, I panic like there’s no tomorrow. All I want to do is vomit, run home, and cry. I’ve been trying to force myself to do things that put me in these situations so I can get better at them but it’s been difficult.

I want to photograph more
I simply LOVE photography. The sound of the shutter clicking on a camera sends chills through me. And, from what people tell me, I can be pretty good at it. But I still have a lot to learn and a lot of practicing to do. It’s also a great relaxation exercise for me. When I’m out taking photos, everything else is blocked out, even my own thoughts. I just focus on what I’m doing and nothing else. It’s one thing that makes me the happiest so I naturally want to keep improving on what I already learned!

So, for the most part, my overall resolution for 2012 is a revolution of me. I want to build a better and stronger me who does things that make me happy.

Did you make any resolutions for this year?

F is for feet!

So, last night I ventured to two stores I’ve never been to before: Charming Charlie and Sephora. Both were overwhelming for me for different reasons.

First, I went to Charming Charlie. This store is HUGE. For anyone not familiar with them, the store offers accessories (jewelry, handbags, scarves, etc.) in every imaginable color, shape and size. The store is set up by color — all of the purple is together in one area, all of the orange is together in another area and so forth.

I walked through the entire store before I found the holy grail…the clearance section! Everything in the store is actually very reasonably priced, even at regular prices. The most expensive thing I came across was a handbag for around $40.  Almost all of the items I bought were on clearance, with the exception of a ring I just couldn’t pass up and a necklace I just had to have. Overall, I spent a smidge over $25. Here’s what I got:

 

This is the ring I couldn't pass up. It was regularly priced at $7.97.

These earrings were on clearance for $4.97. I really like the little stars (that are hard to see in pic).

I love green and I love shell. I love them even more at $.75!

More green shell! This bracelet was $.50!

This cute as a bug necklace was $1.25.

I couldn't resist this necklace, which was also $7.97 at regular price.

I’d say that Charlie was definitely charming and I’ll absolutely go back any time I need something to go with that outfit I want to wear, or if I just need a little retail therapy without making my wallet run screaming from the mall.

Next I was off to Sephora.  I was scared, yes, scared, as I took that long walk to the other end of the mall.  I had no idea what to expect when I walked in and I was instantly overwhelmed. Out of my element, I wandered over to the Urban Decay section. Of course, they were out of everything I wanted. The one thing I wanted to try was their De-Slick Mattifying Powder. The helpful sales girl brought me what she assured was a comparable product at the same price.  The other item I wanted to at least look at and, dare I say, am lusting after is their Naked Palette eyeshadow collection.

After wandering around for a while, I ended up just purchasing one item, and spending more than I did at Charming Charlie! Here’s what I got for my $34.24:

The Laura Mercier powder was $32 and the free sample of their mascara helped ease the sting a tiny bit.

Overall, I enjoyed my shopping adventure last night and will definitely be visiting both stores again. One maybe not as often as the other!

Now I’m off to run around like a crazy person and stock up on milk, bread and eggs so I can make french toast for Irene!

Ok, so, I cheated a little.  I just took this picture this morning but, I still took one! This is from the woods next to our apartment.

Next week’s theme: Planning.

Something that’s been bothering me recently is sizing of plus-size clothing. It’s never the same, no matter where you go. A 1X at one place is a 2X in another or a Large in another.  A lot of places are also now using what I like to call “feel better” sizes. Instead of a 1X, 2X, etc. they’re now a 1, 2, or 3. Or, an 18/20 is now a Large. And don’t get me started with the place that uses a shape & number for jeans sizes. For example, a yellow triangle with a 3 is actually a 20 (or something like that). When I asked the girl how it worked, she had to count on her fingers to figure out what my size would be. (I walked out without jeans, went to a store that sold them using normal sizing and bought 2 pair.)  If you’re comfortable being a plus-size woman, why do you care what the number is? If you’re not comfortable with it, why do you want to lie to yourself?

I thought there were standards for this sort of thing? I understand that the better they make us feel, the more likely we are to keep them in business but why make it so frustrating?  Unfortunately, some places are starting to make it so difficult that they’re losing business…or, at least losing some of mine. I don’t want to “feel better” about the size I’m wearing. I want to know exactly what I’m wearing so I can a) easily find clothes that fit and b) finally say “whoa! it’s time to do something about this!”.

This question was a bit too long for Twitter so I figured I’d post it here. Any advice that anyone can give me would be greatly appreciated.

Daffy is currently on doggy anti-anxiety meds (yes, we’re under advisement of a vet AND behaviorist and yes, they’re necessary – for now). The last few days, she’s not been interested in eating her dinner, which is a side effect of the meds. The first few nights, we’d give her some out of our hands and then try to get her to eat out of the bowl. She’d eat what was in our hands but wouldn’t touch the bowl until around 7:00 pm. Saturday and Sunday, she didn’t eat it until almost 10:00 pm. Today, I tried putting her food into a Buster Cube and it worked for a little while. I think she ate about 1/3 of her dinner but hasn’t touched anything in the bowl.  Again, I know this is a side effect of the meds and she’ll eventually eat.  Here are my questions:

1) Should we leave her bowl of food out so it’s there when she’s ready for it?

2) If so, how do we keep that from becoming a habit? (normally, we feed her around 5:00 every day)

A few times in the past I’ve taken her food away if she’s just being stubborn and won’t eat. Then, I’d put it back down later and if she still didn’t eat it I’d take it away again until the next day. (I’m not evil – I’d give her abt. 1/2 a cup in the AM so she didn’t starve waiting for dinner time). Because she’s not being stubborn and just not ready to eat due to the meds, I’m concerned about taking it away from her. What are your thoughts?

It took me a lot longer to get to this than I had expected but, anyway, here it is:

I had a meeting with my manager a few weeks ago and he gave me homework for our next meeting.  We’re working on mid-year reviews and he asked me to think about what I would like to do. Sounded simple enough, right? Then, I began to think about it. I had no freakin’ idea! There are so many options! Everything I could think of that I liked to do had nothing to do with my day to day job. I began to feel overwhelmed and a bit panicky.

One evening, my husband and I were talking about it and I said, “You know, I really love writing process documentation and creating flow charts and creating forms and just generally making things easier for people.” He looked at me and said “Jenn, why aren’t you doing what I’m doing?” I just looked at him. Holy crap! He was right! All the stuff  I love to do at work was related to User Experience! Not from a web perspective, but that’s OK since I wouldn’t be able to apply that in the current organization I’m working in.

So, that is why I had asked for everyone’s recommendations on a book or a site they found very helpful. As I’ve been thinking about it more and doing a bit of reading, I really think I’ve finally found what I’d like to do!

The next step was to talk to my manager and get his buy in. My next meeting with him was this past Monday and it went great! I told him how the one thing I’m working on already is directly related to UX. He said he thinks we could really use someone in that type of role on the team. So, it’s all working out perfectly!

Now my next step is to learn as much as possible and, something else I would really like to do, go back to school. We do have a degree assistance program at work and my manager said to work up a plan and we’ll talk through it to see what we can do.  What I’m working on now is trying to determine the best track to follow. I’m thinking that communication and psychology should be included, but not sure what type of degree would be the best. If anyone has any suggestions, please, feel free to let me know!

Later on, I’ll do a post about what prompted this. Right now I just wanted to put up a short post where I can list the results.

Earlier this morning, I sent out the following message on Twitter:

UX friends: If you could recommend 1 book &/or site to someone thinking of getting into the field, what would it be? PLS RT

I’ve received only a few so far but I also received a message from someone else interested in the list, which is what prompted me to add it to my blog. As I receive recommendations, I’ll add them to this list.  Feel free to leave your own in the comments, or, send me a tweet!

Without further ado, here is the list so far:

• A Project Guide to UX Design by Russ Unger & Carolyn Chandler || http://tr.im/puhe ~ 3 recommendations
• Sketching User Experience by Bill Buxton || http://tr.im/qu5K ~ 2 recommendations
• Communicating Design by Dan Brown || http://tr.im/px90 ~ 2 recommendations
• Information Architecture for the World Wide Web: Designing Large-Scale Web Sites by Louis Rosenfeld & Peter Morville || http://tr.im/pugo ~ 1 recommendation
• Information Architecture: Blueprints for the Web (2nd Edition) (Voices That Matter) (Paperback) by Christina Wodtke || http://tr.im/qtWx ~ 1 recommendation
• So You Want to Be an Interaction Designer 2006 Essay by Dan Saffer || http://tr.im/qtYn ~ 1 recommendation
• IxDA mailing list || http://www.ixda.org/ ~ 1 recommendation
• IAI mailing list || http://iainstitute.org/en/ ~ 1 recommendation

Thank-you to those who have give recommendations so far and thank-you in advance for those to come!

You may have noticed the sea of green avatars on Twitter and some other social applications recently. If you ask people why, they’ll tell you it’s in support of the protesters in Iran. But what exactly does that mean? What are they actually supporting? If you ask different people, you’ll probably get several different answers. These are my answers to why.

First, these are NOT the reasons I’m green:

• I am NOT green because I think that Mousavi should have won the election. Nor do I think Ahmadinejad is the right choice. I don’t know who should have rightfully won. They didn’t ask me to count all of the ballots.
• I am NOT green because I believe the US, UK and whoever else are evil. I don’t. I love my country and the freedom and rights I have.
• I am NOT green because I believe that Islam is the one right religion. I don’t believe that there is ONE ‘right’ religion. I believe there’s one religion that is right for you as an individual. I have my own set of beliefs that encompass many religions and am still searching for my ‘one’.

So, why AM I green?

• I AM green because I believe that we should all have the right to disagree with something or someone. If everyone agreed with each other, what would we talk about?
• I AM green because I think it is unfair to beat or murder someone because they think differently than you. People are different. I can’t think of one relative or friend who is exactly like me. Can you? It’d be a pretty lonely place if we killed all those different from us, wouldn’t it?
• I AM green because I believe peaceful protests should not be met with violence. I saw a video from Tehran on YouTube the other day of a man handcuffed with his shirt pulled off. He was not resisting, he was not fighting, yet, the cowards hiding behind ski masks beat him. I cried watching it and it brings tears to my eyes now just thinking about it. How can someone treat another human being like that?
• Finally, I AM green because I am a human being that doesn’t believe other human beings should be treated the way those protesting in Tehran are being treated.

Again, these are just my answers to ‘Why is your avatar green?’. You may agree, disagree, have answers of your own or just not care, which is fine because, well, that is your right.

With the U.S. Presidential Election quickly approaching, I guess it’s fitting that my post has to do with the candidates (more specifically, Barack Obama) and the issues I have with small minded people.

I received an email from a co-worker/friend that had been forwarded from one of their friends that had been forwarded from one of their friends and so on. One comment in the message really struck me [copied with grammatical errors and all]:

“I have always had a problem voting for someone that was born with an American name but changed it to not another , more appealing , American name, but to another Islamic appealing name. Thats OK ,UNLESS, you choose to run for THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and not choose to change your name back to your American given name to prove perhaps,love for your country.”

Let’s just get this out of the way. The name given to him at birth was Barack. It was his father’s name. His nickname was Barry. Based on an article in Newsweek (http://www.newsweek.com/id/128633), Barack is an African name, not Islamic.

So, last time I checked, none of our Presidents had an “American” name. Let’s go through the list, shall we?

(looked up at http://babynamesworld.parentsconnect.com)

Hmmm…I didn’t see one name with an American origin.

When I looked for names with an American English origin at Baby Names World, I found names such as Bubba, Fable, Kodiak, Scout and Seven. I think I’ll name my kid Tron…it was a cool movie.

Apparently this person has some insider information that I, or probably most of the country, wasn’t aware of. When did one of the requirements of Presidency become “You must have an American sounding name”? Here’s a snippet of Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution (the part that talks about the Election, Installation, Removal of the President):

“No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty five years, and been fourteen Years a resident within the United States.”

Nothing in there about the person’s name…or their religion for that matter. (by the way, he’s a Christian, not Islamic or Muslim. Not that it matters, though. Right?)

I’m tired of the fact that most Americans shrink in fear or violently lash out because of the Middle Eastern, or Muslim, or “someone different than you” family that moved in down the street or next door. So what? Did they do anything to you? Did they hurt you, torture you, kill your cat? No? They just moved in and live quietly? Just because they are Middle Eastern, or Muslim, or different than you, that doesn’t make them terrorists out to get your family. Maybe if you actually take the time to know them you’ll find out they’re really not much different from you and want the same things out of life.

I guess that, in the end, my question is: Does it really matter? If someone came along and they were the perfect candidate…could solve all the worlds problems with the blink of an eye. No more taxes, made money and food appear on every table. Rid the world of homelessness, starvation, acne. If someone could do all that, would it still matter if the person’s name was Yasir or Rafiki or Abdul or even Helen? I’d like to think it wouldn’t, but something tells me it would.

And yes, Governor Palin, I do thank the veterans for the fact that I have the right to protest, bitch, moan, groan and vote for someone based on their qualifications, not based on their name or religious affiliation.