Friday, July 30, 2010

Maintenance Notice



Please stay tuned while the site undergoes a mini-makeover!

-Kendall M.

Saturday, July 24, 2010

The Joy of Low-Budget Gardening


Thyme
Hooray it's summer; and during the summer, while I'm all cooped up in a dark and dreary and somewhat pungent apartment, I love to grow plants in my window to make things seem cheery amongst a never ending heap of finance homework!

Greek Oregano

Slingback Scoops: July 24, 2010

  • 18 killed at Love Parade in Germany. BBC

  • $34.9 million housing plan launches for homeless U.S. veterans. PR Newswire

  • How to get people to "like" you. Mashable

Pictured slingback: Nicholas Kirkwood

Homemade Pel'menis


Ingredients:

For dough
1. 1 1/2 cups flour
2. Pinch of salt
3. 1/2 cup cold water
4. 2 eggs

For filling
1. (1) large russett potato
2. 2 tbs. butter
3. Thyme, salt, pepper, greek oregano, basil...


Directions:

To make dough, quickly combine flour and cold water in a mixing bowl and mix together with a fork. Stir in eggs and add salt, to taste. Using generous amounts of extra flour, roll dough into ball and set aside.

To make filling, cut potato into chunks and dump into pot of boiling water. After potatoes become soft, strain out the water and place into a mixing bowl. Let cool. Using a pastry cutter (or your hands) mash potatoes along with butter and herbs/spices until blended.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

To asssemble pel'menis:

1. Grab a chunk of dough about the size of a 50 cent piece (generously floured) and roll it out until it is very thin medallion.
2. Drop a chunk of filing in the center of the medallion and using your fingers, gently fold the dough in half over the filling. Pinch the dough together along the crease and around the shape of the filling. Fold the creased dough up and shape it around the filling--like a person reaching two arms around their beer gut and clasping their hands at the center.
3. Dump the pel'menis into the boiling water and cook until they float to the surface. Strain and serve with sour cream, hot sauce & cilantro.

Back with more from Mr. PR!

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

So Good: Put your foot in it...


"Snakeskin peep toe sandals" by Nicholas Kirkwood
Retail: $876

Reality Check


View Larger Map

In my favorite book of all time, Victor Hugo's Les Miserables, la Rue du Champ de l'Alouette was the road Marius would go to find solitude and to reflect on his lost love, Cosette. Apparently today, it is also a great place to go and pick up some Vietnamese food..

Omg, shoes



This should probably be the theme song for this blog...

The Great Unknown

With graduation only months away, me and several of my friends are faced with that pesky and simultaneously devastating question that we cannot possibly ignore for much longer: "Now what?"

As a kid in high school, my life plan seemed obvious: Graduate with a good GPA, get into a good college, graduate from that college and then it would be fancy living from there on out! With a diploma in hand, doors would swing wide open all around me and it wouldn't be longer before I found myself in a cushy job with a respectable apartment and my own top-of-the-line espresso machine.

Now with the countdown widget constantly blaring at me from the lower right hand corner, I discover for the first time in my life that I have no plan for myself; that I'm just going to have to just go with the flow...

Move back home or try and find work in town? Go to grad school? Internships and part-time nanny-ing? Run off and join the Peace Corps? Run off to Quebec where they're always hiring?

Life has never been more terrifying and exciting.


Photo: Breville Barista Express BES860XL
Retail: $599.99
Available at Bed, Bath & Beyond

It's...so...beautiful...

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Slingback Scoops: July 18, 2010



  • Public Relations is not DEAD! PRSA
  • This gives me heartburn just looking at it... PR Newswire
  • Dreamliner makes first appearance at international air show. BBC
  • The Fremont Flower Man strikes again at Seattle PR firm. Duo Dribble
  • Inception raked in $60 million this weekend. Just Jared

Pictured slingback: "Lady Dragon Shoe" by Melissa by Vivienne Westwood
Retail: $150

Friday, July 16, 2010

What is Public Relations?

I love this guy. Instead of Glenn Selleck, I will call him "Mr. PR" and I will be posting much more of his fun, informative videos!

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

So Good: Put your foot in it...


"Crepe Satin Flower Pump" by Christian Louboutin
Retail: $138.25

Slingback Scoops: July 13, 2010


  • Put down that book and start playing Farmville! PRSA
  • Legal battle continues over Washington sales tax exemptions for Canadians. City of Bellingham
  • Solutions in bloom for gulf clean up efforts. PR Newswire
  • Spokane Community College teacher loses ethics case over e-mail. Seattle Weekly
  • Christopher Woitach Trio with Larry Holloway and Jud Sherwood perform tonight at Boundary Bay! Boundary Bay Brewery

*Pictured slingback: Christian Louboutin "Slingback Pump."

What is Public Relations?

Monday, July 12, 2010

How to "Twitter"-pate an audience

Twitter.com is a whole new arena for marketing and is a tool I have recently been trying to experiment with.
The above photo is linked to a free pdf of a how-to manual for nonprofits on Twitter. While most of what it discusses is common sense, there were a few handy tips about establishing one platform to relay the same message through all of the different social channels and how to encourage small monetary donations.

Based on my own personal research of various nonprofit Twitter accounts, I have come up with a few ideas for how to attract followers and maintain a successful page.

  1. For nonprofits, it may be difficult to find something to post about several times a day--from what I saw, most organizations (with a lot of followers) were posting three to five times a week.
  2. Following similar organizations (which are not national) may win a few followers, but I think it may be helpful to branch out and also follow high-profile personalities who are/have been advocates for a related cause.
  3. Provide posts with links to video, photo albums, etc.---I think a lot of people are more visual.
  4. Make sure all posts are easily related back to the organization's cause--people viewing the page should be able to tell right away what the message is and whether or not they would be interested in following.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

So Good: Put your foot in it...

"Ulona 140 Platform Sandals" by Christian Louboutin
Retail: $1,329.93



Sole Food: Pinching pennies post-grad style

Horchata

In light of this recent heat wave, I thought it would be nice to post a recipe for horchata = refreshing and delicious summer beverage made from rice milk/water/cinnamon.

Ingredients:
  1. 1 1/3 cup uncooked white rice
  2. 1 cup milk
  3. 5 cups water
  4. 2 sticks of cinnamon (I prefer using sticks--they're $1 for a package located in the hispanic foods aisle at most grocery stores) Otherwise, use 1/2 tablespoon of ground cinnamon.
  5. 1/3 cup - 2/3 cup sugar
  6. Splash of vanilla (to taste)
Directions:
  1. Add rice, 2 cups of water and cinnamon sticks into blend and blend until sticks and rice are ground.
  2. Add the rest of the water and continue to blend. *
  3. Place out in hot sun (on porch or balcony, etc.) and let sit for 6 to 12 hours. **
  4. Strain mixture into a pitcher through a sieve (I bought a handheld one for about $1 at Haggen--baking section)
  5. Stir in milk, sugar and vanilla---serve over ice. Delicioso!
*Be careful not to over mix this part; I always do and a lot of grounds make it through when I use the sieve.
**Direct sun is best, but next to a window or in the fridge is just as good too!

Photo: foodnetwork.com
Original recipe + tips from comment by "Serena" from July 16, 2008

It's...so...hot


During the disgusting heat wave, my tiny, top floor apartment gets hotter than a broom closet in the seventh circle of hell.

In a state such as this, my roommates and I try everything to cool down the apartment---from opening and closing certain windows, to strategically placing fans to try and invite in as much cool air as possible. Nothing seems to be really working.

If anyone has any advice, please let me know before we all melt!

Photo: Inhabitat.com

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

So Good: Put your foot in it...


"Ankle Boot with Chain Detail" by Giuseppe Zanotti
Retail: $1,037.76

Keeping Competitive


Over the past few months, as I inch ever closer toward graduation, I have been noticing that among my peers who have gone off to bigger and better things--those bigger and better things did not necessarily come along with a single internship under their belts.

Before landing big business internships right out of the classroom, these people had completed at least two internships as well as quite a bit of volunteer work and extracurricular activities. I am starting to think that above average is no longer acceptable; that to make it in the present job market will require extraordinary measures and/or excellent contacts.

When my parents graduated from high school, they both received white collar jobs right out of the gate, no degree required. When my old babysitters graduated from college, their bachelor's degrees automatically won them $50,000+ a year. Now as my generation approaches graduation, B.A.'s are a dime a dozen and minimum wage, secretarial positions are being fought for, tooth and nail.

There was a time when I was proud of my resume, but month by month as I look to update it, my life's work isn't looking so good on paper.

As soon as I catch up and add charity/freelance work and two internships--someone comes along and ups the ante and sets the standard for employment at 6 internships, being a contributor to the New Yorker and job shadowing Margaret Thatcher.

Perhaps the key to getting ahead of the game is to not play by the rules.

If the real world is like a never ending game of corporate chutes and ladders, there are those who will waste their time playing it safe and climbing every short ladder, in succession, that comes along; these people will be doomed to always be one climb away from the leader, only choosing to climb because that's what the first guy did.

And then there are those who will go balls to the wall (and risk a few rides down chutes) in order to reach the express ladder, straight to the top.

When you can no longer work within the system, perhaps it's time to take a risk. Instead of trying to rise the ranks in a Fortune 500 company, get in at a budding business and help build it from the ground up. In the end, maybe all of that hard work will pay off.

No guts, not glory.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Sole Food: Pinching pennies post-grad style


Quick & Dirty Gyros


Ingredients:


  1. 1 lb. ground beef (lamb is way expensive, and beef tastes better anyway!) = $4
  2. (1) package of frozen spinach = $1.50
  3. 2 tbs. olive oil
  4. Minced garlic ~ 3 cloves
  5. Lots of spices (to taste): salt, pepper, cayenne/chili powder, cumin, a dash of cinnamon, grill seasoning, oregano *
  6. Feta cheese = $3
Total cost: ~ $10

* The gyros will taste great with whatever kind of spices you choose to put in, so feel free to experiment! I like to use Garam Masala--it's a $6 spice, but I use it on absolutely everything and a little goes a long way!

Directions:
  1. Defrost the spinach (squeeze out all excess liquid) and ground beef -- throw into bowl and blend together using hands.
  2. Blend in the cheese, garlic and spices.
  3. Transfer meat mixture to baking sheet and form into a log--about 3-4 inches wide and 11 inches long.
  4. Drizzle log with olive oil and bake in oven (425 degrees) for 30-40 minutes. Note: It'll go fast, so be sure to start checking about 20 minutes in--watch the hot oil!
  5. Cut log into 1 inch slices and serve gyros with fries/pita bread/tzaziki, etc.
*Recipe tweaked from original Rachael Ray Gyro Platter
Photo: Melarky.com