Explore.Dream.Discover

When’s the last time you swooned?

Grace — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 15:57:59 +0000

Can someone please introduce me to Bruno Mars (@thatbrunomars)? If you haven’t heard him on B.o.B’s #1 Billboard song (Nothin’ On You), you are seriously missing out. To get back in the game you should really hear his new song with Travie McCoy – “Billionaire”. Originally from Hawaii, you can hear that influence on his latest song.

The thing that gets me about Bruno Mars is the great melodies he provides (he’s also a writer and producer). His voices makes me swoon which is basically a guarantee that I will love everything this guy puts out. For the time being he will be my new celebrity crush. What’s not to like? He’s 23, ambitious, cute and has a great voice. I’m really not a hard person to please

You can learn more about Bruno Mars from his Entertainment Weekly interview.

*REQUEST* (besides someone introducing me to him) Can we get a constant presence from Bruno on Twitter? Facebook doesn’t provide me with enough Bruno

Something extra: One of four songs that’s always playing when I walk around nyc — Billionaire

Last time on Grace under fire….

Grace — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 04:48:39 +0000

Um, I actually have no idea what “Grace Under Fire” was about but people always used it as a reference for my name as a kid. Anywho….

See I told you I was bad at blogging. I have the desire to blog, I just lack the discipline. I’m like the significant other who tells you he/she is “going to spend the ENTIRE day” with you. Back to the reason I dragged myself back to my blog: RESOLUTION CHECKUP.

I am happy to report that in the last month I have maintained all of my resolutions (see post below) except for the one about exercising. I knew I wasn’t going to but it’s nice to dream, right? OKAY, I cheated on the one about retail therapy – I bought some leggings! But it was just yesterday I purchased them so I DID go a whole month without spending a dime on clothes/shoes/bags. Since my birthday is next week my bank account can expect to take a hit over the next 10 days. Yes I celebrate my birthday for over a week; if I don’t celebrate/love me how can I expect anyone else to? =)

Speaking of my birthday, my mother has decided that since I’m turning 23 another year older I need to be “domesticated“. Yeah I know, when did I become a house pet? My mother is committed to “teaching me how to run a house”. Um, did someone put in an offer for me? Is she trying to kick me out? Actually it’s probably more wishful thinking because I’m pretty positive the former is not true and my parents are way too scared of me being independent (read: living in NYC). This “domestication” should result in plenty of laughs so stay tuned =)

Something extra: so I’m not big on football but as an ad junkie I was all about the super bowl commercials. I found it interesting that the commercial people liked the most (from WOM & my twitter feed) was the Google ad – a video that’s been around for a while. I totally fell in love with it when I first saw it, partly because I love all things French. So for your viewing pleasure:

Something old, something new

Grace — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 10:38:32 +0000

Happy New Year!

Yes I’m tardy for the party but better late than never! It has taken me a whole week to get my resolutions up because my laptop wasn’t working, but finally here they are:

Something old: get back in the gym! I haven’t exercised since September and somehow I haven’t blown up to 300lbs! Must not wait til my luck runs out

Something new: learn to appreciate my curly hair. Some of the people I see daily don’t know that my hair isn’t naturally straight. This year I’m letting my curls out and that means 2 extra hours for me!

Something borrowed: read more! I don’t think I’ve enjoyed a book in a long time so this year I will indulge in more reading. My first pick: Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters. Jane Austen + Sea Creatures = why not?

Something blue: so I googled “something blue” for ideas and I got a picture of little blue boxes very similar to Tiffany boxes (Tiffany’s definitely has the mind share for robin’s egg blue boxes). Since we’re on the subject of retail I will pledge to spend less on retail therapy. When it comes to shopping my philosphy goes something like this: good day –> shop, mediocre day –> shop, bad day –> DEF SHOP! So while others are giving themselves more financial freedom I’ll be pulling on the reins for a bit.

Something extra: If you haven’t heard this mashup of the top 25 songs of 2009 you’re missing out! For your pleasure, I present DJ Earworm – Blame it on the pop

Breaking up is hard to do

Grace — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 04:37:38 +0000

Your stomach feels uneasy. You rehearse what you’re going to say in your head. Your palms become sweaty. Finally, you blurt it out and hope for a decent reaction. It was about a week ago that I did all of the above and quit my job; honestly one of the toughest things I’ve ever done. Until last week, I never realized how similar breaking up and quitting are. In both I’ve agonized over the decision, consulted anyone who would listen and ultimately looked for a “sign” that would help me (I’m not very spiritual but I do believe that there are signs the universe sends us, yeah yeah laugh if you want). In this case, I had 2 signs:

1 – I met my new employer by signing up for their service – I sign up for a lot of bargain sites (gilt groupe, daily candy, etc) but I never thought that one of them would want to hire me! Was it luck? fate? All I know is that I’m very fortune to get an opportunity like this!

2 - I got into the screening of Lemonade - As a marketing/advertising junkie, I heard about Erik Proulx’s documentary about advertising professionals who were laid off and forced to create and follow a Plan B. Basically, when life hands you lemons you better start making lemonade (see trailer here). So when he held a screening in NYC you bet I got a ticket. It made me realize that I don’t need to be fired or laid off in order to kick start my life. Yes I am young and could wait for an opportunity to present itself, but if I want my life and work to be exciting and meaningful I need to make it happen. Long story short, it helped lessen the agony of whether to take the job.

I have to say that breaking up with my job might have been a smidge harder than ending a relationship considering I really like and respect everyone I work with and quitting seems like a big slap in their faces. Having been the one to break up with someone, the one to be broken up with and now the one to quit, I can honestly say that quitting definitely made me more nervous. But now that fear is conquered =)

A little something extra:

Whenever I think about non-serious breakups (don’t even get me started on serious breakups) I always think of the poem from 10 Things I Hate About You (BONUS: the introduction of Heath Ledger). Sometimes this clip makes me laugh and sometimes it makes me sad. Mostly, this clip makes me glad that I am no longer a silly teenager with silly crushes that cause me to write in my journal (fyi: this blog does NOT count as a journal =P )

I just got dumped & quit my job, WWTDD?

Grace — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 05:15:23 +0000

For those of you unfamiliar with the acronym WWTDD, it stands for What Would Tyler Durden Do (from the mind blowing movie Fight Club or the awesome website). Now I’m positive Tyler Durden wouldn’t give a crap about being dumped. He knows he’s the best and would just go out and find someone else. That or he’d blow something up just for kicks. As for quitting, he’d relish in the fact that now he has more freedom.

Since I can’t follow in the footsteps of the great Tyler Durden I’m (re)starting this blog. Yeah there will be some man-bashing and struggling to land on my feet again, both personally and professionally, but I’m also embarking on a new professional journey. I have a completely clean slate, more than ever before.

I’ve got friends, family, a couple dollars in the bank and a desire for challenge. Let’s see how far that’ll take me.