Pocket Fridays Archives

Friday Favorites And One Crazy Work Week

June 16, 2017 By AJ Leave a Comment

I don’t mind telling you all that I am one tired lady right now. In the middle of launching a theatrical documentary as well as several more “day and date” titles (those are films that come out in theaters and on demand on the same day) and it’s a LOT! But I’m also having a blast and it’s been a crazy and rewarding week.

WHAT I READ

My company’s exciting film, Score: A Film Music Documentary, is getting great reviews all over and it’s blowing our minds. We were the New York Times Critics Pick!
If you ever do the drive from LA to Vegas, read this list of great restaurants to try along the way. I’ve been to Peggy Sue’s Diner, which is a lot of fun!
Rudolph’s Bar & Tea looks like a place I wanna hang out in. Don’tcha think?

OTHER BLOGGERS & INFLUENCERS

A downtown restaurant, that I personally do not care for, embarrassed themselves with an incident involving an influencer.
We Are Midlife recommends wide leg pants — I am so happy they’re back.
I always love Chris’ end-of-the-week lists! Here’s her latest.
Melissa’s recipe for Pesto Bites looks DELICIOUS!

EARLIER THIS WEEK

I was working on my personal brunch database (oh yes, I have one) — I had to add The Topanga Table.
NBC 4 came to our special advanced screening of SCORE on Wednesday night!

I threw a spotlight on some restaurants offering up amazing Father’s Day brunches over at Hollywood Brunch on Instagram.

VIDEO SPOTLIGHT

Ice T is helping Sonic sell Iced Teas and I think the commercial is hilarious!
I don’t watch Angie Tribeca, but now I may need to.

Is anyone else watching FUNDERDOME? I think the name is pretty stupid and the prizing mechanic is kind of lame, but I love seeing new inventions and entrepreneurs. So far my favorite idea is the Airhook:

I’ll leave you with this bit. Dear Evan Hansen took home a lot of Tony Awards on Sunday and deservedly so. The show is beautiful. From the same composers who wrote La La Land, by the way. The cast’s performance of “Waving Through the Window” was stunning and when star Ben Platt won his “Best Actor” award, he said something that has stuck with me ever since:

“Don’t waste time trying to be like anybody else… the things that make you strange are the things…

Click To Tweet

Friday Favorites: June Gloom Be Gone

June 9, 2017 By AJ 1 Comment

Who says June has to be gloomy? Every morning I wake up to overcast skies but by afternoon, it’s sunny and beautiful. The weather’s been perfect and I am loving it. I am also happy to share that I did not have to testify before a half-senile Senate committee this week, which is more than I can say for some people….

WHAT I READ

The Alamo Drafthouse movie theater chain is finally setting up shop here in Los Angeles. They show such diverse films and have a great brand so I am excited as all get out for this.
30 years later, these Playboy models recreated their cover photos. It is EPIC. Kudos to you, ladies. You’re badasses.
Did you know there are some RIDICULOUS secret menu items at Disneyland? I had no idea. Let’s get on that, guys. Because ICE. CREAM. NACHOS.

OTHER BLOGGERS & INFLUENCERS

As part of Google’s “Be Internet Awesome Program” they have built Interland, an online world to teach kids the dos and don’ts of using the web. Pretty awesome indeed.
Over at The Player’s Tribune, my favorite all-time catcher, Jorge Posada, wrote a letter to his younger self. It’s lovely. What would you say to ten-year-old you?
Melissa shared the recipe for the perfect, fluffy white cake. YUM! She also shared a recipe for the perfect chocolate chip cookies. Basically, she’s doing the lord’s work.
Carolyn took her family to Seattle and as it’s one of my favorite cities in the world, I loved her recap and travel tips!

EARLIER THIS WEEK

I saw WONDER WOMAN. I was afraid it wouldn’t live up to the hype. But it did.
I signed up for a volunteer orientation for Wags n’ Walks. I may regret it. I love dogs and I love recue dogs, but I don’t love that I cannot take them all home with me. But they are opening up an adoption center in West LA and need our support!
I bookmarked this restaurant – FELIX. I do not remember where I saw it or read about it, but ya know, looks delicious…. right?

VIDEO SPOTLIGHT

Carpool Karaoke is always a hit — this one with Ed Sheeran might be one of my favorites ever.

Jimmy Kimmel’s mean tweets are also always hilarious. Here’s the fifth edition of his NBA mean tweets:

These puppies. I want to steal them.

Friday Favorites: May Day, May Day!

May 19, 2017 By AJ 1 Comment

This week in the news, Trump is shouting to anyone who’s listening (or reading his twitter dribble) that he feels remarkably persecuted — the most hated and hunted President ever, he believes. Let’s not ask Lincoln and Kennedy how they feel about that verdict.

I am proud to announce that I am NOT being investigated by a special prosecutor. So I’m winning at life.

Anyway….

WHAT I READ

Did anyone else read “Where’d You Go Bernadette” by Maria Semple? I enjoyed it and was excited to hear they’re making it into a movie — and the casting thus far is perfection.
I have been following this year’s TV Upfronts with vigor. Oddly, not many new shows I am excited for this Fall, but I think there will still be a couple big winners.
Someone shared this with me — “The 100 Most Iconic Dogs in Movies“. I looked through every. single. one.

OTHER BLOGGERS & INFLUENCERS

Carolyn posted a recipe for S’mores Parfaits. When I read it, I literally shouted out loud, “SOLD!”
Jessica keeps saying she’s retired from blogging. She is a lying liar who lies. Also, she is insightful about important subject matters
Chris reviewed a diaper bag that I maintain would be an excellent bag for a working professional who travels a lot. I kind of want a diaper bag, guys.

EARLIER THIS WEEK

I attended this great panel at the TV Academy called “Unstoppable Women.” It showcased amazing female talent working with the Lifetime channel. And then I met Constance Zimmer, who could not have been nicer. She is one of my favorite actresses. I was THRILLED!
I attended the Grand Opening of the new Fresh Brothers in Burbank. I’m ECSTATIC they opened one in delivery distance to my home! I’ve been very patient and now I’ve been rewarded. Thank you, FB, (P.S. Click over to their site and sign up for their club so you get 10% off every order!)

Friday Favorites: May Day, May Day! / Fresh Brothers Pizza in Burbank

Fresh Brothers’ artichoke chicken pesto pizza – it’s amazing.

VIDEO SPOTLIGHT

Harry Styles and Niall Horan (formerly of One Direction) are giving their solo careers the hard core press this week. I’m not gonna lie to you — it ain’t bad stuff if you like pop music like I do.
I discovered a short film I loved. I never think about watching short films but I saw this filmmaker speak at the aforementioned panel and it’s GREAT.

Coming off the @TelevisionAcad panel last night I immediately rented @GertShap‘s #SequinRaze on @Vimeo. SO. AWESOME. https://t.co/rBZ6JlxqXJ

— (((AJ Feuerman))) (@ajfeuerman) May 17, 2017

Stephen Amell (“Arrow”) tackles the American Ninja Warrior course for “Red Nose Day” and nails it, obviously.
I’ll just conclude “Friday Favorites” with this. Chris Cornell’s best acoustic performances. He was magnificent and I am sad.

Friday Favorites

May 13, 2017 By AJ Leave a Comment

Welcome to the euphoria of Friday — that day of days that drops us all off at the weekend before that mother-effer Monday comes to collect us…. Ever the publicist am I, I wanted to put a new spin on Friday updates and offer up a simpler list, “Friday Favorites.” Broken down for you all below.

WHAT I READ

An exquisite ode and thank you to New York from baseball icon, Derek Jeter.
This “Anchor Roundtable” with Savannah Guthrie, Jake Tapper, Gayle King, George Stephanopolous and more on the current state of the news.
About a this new restaurant, Rossoblu, on Eater LA and it looks divine. I’m ready to try it.

The Rock wants to run for President someday. He’s not kidding. And frankly, considering what we’re currently facing, I’m not even opposed to it.

OTHER BLOGGERS & INFLUENCERS

I am super obsessed with “We Are Midlife” on Instagram. Does that mean I’m in my midlife? Probably. I’m too busy enjoying it to care.
Look, I know it’s a “diaper bag” but I just love a good backpack with a ton of pockets. Chris broke this down so well, I now want to own it.
Social Media Club is hosting a really awesome Snapchat-focused event this month. Get the details.
Can we please talk about these Funfetti Cream Pie Cupcakes?!

EARLIER THIS WEEK

Jessica and I attended “Masters of Taste,” essentially eating our way through the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. I’ve been posting photos on my Hollywood Brunch Instagram account and plan on a more detailed recap soon!

I also went to the Museum of Ice Cream, and it was AMAZING! They put more tickets on sale today, Los Angeles. Go get ’em!
As if that’s not enough, I managed a press pass to RuPaul’s DragCon and I really owe you all a dedicated post about that as well. What an incredible experience.

VIDEO SPOTLIGHT

Anderson Cooper is all of us. Did you see the eye-roll heard round the world?
Samantha Bee flawlessly broke down the Comey firing on her show this week:

Speaking of Sam Bee, if you missed the “Daily Show” reunion on Colbert, you missed complete awesomeness.

Thus concludes this very first “Friday Favorites” endeavor. Let me know what you think of the new format in the comments! Thanks in advance.

What’s In My Pocket Friday – Mental Health Awareness Month

May 5, 2017 By AJ Leave a Comment

Mental Health Awareness Month

Well, however odd a phrase as it may be, happy Mental Health Awareness Month, everyone! In this world of absolute insanity, this seems like an acutely appropriate cause. It’s hard for me to understand why our global community still attaches such a negative stigma to mental health issues.

But since 1949, Mental Health America has led the observance Mental Health Month in May. They believe it’s important to educate people about habits and behaviors that increase the risk of developing or exacerbating mental illnesses, or could be signs of mental health problems themselves. People experience symptoms of mental illnesses differently—and some engage in potentially dangerous or risky behaviors to avoid or cover up symptoms of a potential mental health problem. Sometimes people—especially young people—struggling with mental health concerns develop habits and behaviors that increase the risk of developing or exacerbating mental illnesses, or that could be signs of mental health problems themselves. When we engage in prevention and early identification, we can help reduce the burden of mental illness by identifying symptoms and warning signs early—and provide effective treatment.

How do we reconcile the importance of mental health awareness with the stigmas attached to its challenges? Well, in my opinion, is through education, earnest sentiment, and even a good bit of laughter.

Therapy – it works. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. Here are 11 perfect tweets about it sourced by Huffington Post.
Buzzfeed also has some tweets — also very funny!
Laughter actually is the best medicine. Read why here.
Are you ready for the best comic strip about depression? Read Hyperbole and a Half’s “Adventures in Depression.”

Many years ago, blogger Heather Armstrong wrote a piece about depression I found particularly moving.
Also from Buzzfeed — a handy translation guide of sorts. What you say and what you mean.
Kevin Breel is important. He’s a stand-up comedian and he needs to talk to you about depression. I will leave you with his words:

Lazy Sunday Musings

March 27, 2017 By AJ Leave a Comment

The internet is always there for me in times of need.

I suck at lazy Sundays. But I excel at the internet. Enjoy these lazy Sunday musings.

I’ve been podcast hopping this week. My latest podcast discoveries have included:

Missing Richard Simmons — This is even better than my friends told me it was.
Bloomberg’s Game Plan
Can He do That? — The Washington Post is using this Presidency to raise their profile and I support it.

I’m also quite obsessed with the pursuit of justice for Brad’s wife. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, click here. I can only fantasize how I’d handle this as a social media manager. To begin, I have brainstormed some of the reasons Cracker Barrel may have fired Brad’s wife:

Her comfort was not made from scratch.
Her “fancy fixins” were not that fancy.
The sun had set on her sunrise sampler.

Earlier this week I asked my Facebook friends a question I heard on the radio: Which celebrity would you least like to be stuck on a deserted island with? Some of mine:

Kanye West
Any Kardashian
Ann Coulter

I didn’t put Trump there because that’s just too obvious.

I saw Beauty & the Beast and I liked it. I didn’t love it, though. I think this article sums it up perfectly well. I need to start going to more movies again; I’ve fallen out of the habit lately. I used to stay up late at night at least once a week watching new movie trailers and deciding what I would go see that weekend…. If only there were 34 hours in a day. I’d really like to see Get Out, which seems to have taken the world by storm, and I’d like to see – believe it or not – the new Power Rangers movie. I’m apt to steer clear of Life, despite is starring Ryan Reynolds and Jake Gyllenhaal and this interview with them being delightful:

Before I actively resume my lazy Sunday (hypocrisy intended), let me leave you with this amazing article best summed up with part of the headline: “I’m Sweary AF and That Ain’t Gonna Change.”

What’s In My Pocket Friday

March 10, 2017 By AJ Leave a Comment

Best of the web

Happy Friday, everyone! There is so much out there for us to delight in this week. Here are the Top Five:

I think everyone in the universe has seen this amazing video today:

I thought this was a lovely service, Greetabl. It allows you to upload personal photos and craft a special message for a customized box so loved ones can unfold them and proudly display it. It looks rather beautiful.
The GOP laid out their solution to the healthcare “problem” and I’ll save my commentary except to say that Paul Ryan’s power point presentation deserved to be memed:

James Corden and Samuel L. Jackson reenacted some of Jackson’s best film roles. It is AMAZING:

My Golden Girls coloring book came. It is GLORIOUS. I will be coloring in it this weekend, no doubt.

Arrived today. 🎉🎉🎉 #coloringbook #goldengirls #adultcoloring

A post shared by AJ Feuerman (@ajfeuerman) on Mar 7, 2017 at 8:27pm PST

Stuff I Enjoy

February 20, 2017 By AJ Leave a Comment

Checking in to showcase some stuff I enjoy from all over the world wide web.

I often wish (okay, always wish) weekends were three days long so that I could spend two days running all the errands I didn’t have time for during the week and the third day resting and catching up on things at home. That would be the dream. Do any countries practice that norm? Given the current state of governmental affairs, I don’t need a lot of incentive to move, but a three-day weekend would certainly sweeten the pot….

First off, do you follow the “Photoshop Troll” on Twitter? You should. I won’t even tell you what he does. It’s much funnier to be surprised… He’s one of the few accounts I allow mobile notifications for. (Another one, BTW, is TrumpDraws.)
Speaking of good accounts to follow, I may or may not have spent a couple hours watching cooking videos on TASTY this week. If you want something COMPLETELY UNHEALTHY, you should also check out JP & Julia. I follow them on Snapchat. It’s terrible. (Terrible = AMAZING.)
This video on Facebook. Obviously.

There was a sinkhole here in Los Angeles. That’s right, the rain poured down, the ground opened up, and it ate TWO CARS. I guess that’s not really “stuff I enjoy” but HOLY HELL, people. WHAT IS HAPPENING???
I attended a marvelous event at the Television Academy to celebrate the launch of their Choreographers’ Branch. I met Kenny Ortega and he was completely lovely. (If you don’t know who Kenny Ortega is, you must have slept through 1987-1992.)
Did you hear about the tragedy in Sweden? The only Swedish tragedy I’m familiar with is putting together IKEA furniture.

No joke, Captain America (well, Chris Evans) is REAL LIFE fighting NAZIS. Dafuq?!
We got a first-look at the next Avengers movie. I squealed with happiness when I watched it. (And then I watched it eight more times.)
I very much enjoy these snarky unicorn coffee mugs. There’s a whole collection.

And THIS!!! I’ve been working hard on my “Hollywood Brunch” presence and am finally growing the Instagram account! I hope you’ll follow me there and enjoy my brunch-related adventures! And don’t forget to sign up for the e-newsletter. I promise I’ll get back to them very soon.

What’s In My Pocket Friday

February 3, 2017 By AJ Leave a Comment

Best of the web

I did not go into the office today (hint: I’m writing this on Thursday night) because, well, yesterday I found out I have bursitis in my right shoulder. And while no one can tell without an MRI, the suspicion is that there is a tiny tear in my rotator cuff causing it. And by the way, no idea how I did this. I woke up at 4 AM in excruciating pain and by 2 PM, was leaving work to go to the doctor. My shoulder has been a little achy since Sunday night but this was just suddenly like WHAM. I don’t actually like working from home but I do like not having to spend three hours in the car, so there’s that. But I do have a little cabin fever right now and may just have to take a walk outside when I finish this post.

ANYWAY….

I’m speaking at the Dad 2.0 Conference next week and I’m super excited! This is a totally new conference to me and I can’t wait to meet new people, new bloggers and influencers, and drop some knowledge.
I know everything is terrible right now and I’m not going to help you with this awful news: BACON RESERVES ARE AT AN ALL-TIME LOW. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! (Did you know we have “bacon reserves?” Where is this place? Wanna go?)
Current, new TV obsessions: The Crown (Netflix) and Victoria (PBS Masterpiece). Never thought I’d get into period shows but I LOVE THEM. Clearly every show ever should be about the British Monarchy.

There are many, many adorable dogs you should be following on Instagram. Here’s a good list.
Do you happen to follow the sassy Merriam-Webster account on Twitter? You should. Meet the author, Lauren Naturale.
You better believe I pre-ordered this gem:

What's In My Pocket Friday - Best of the Web

P.S. You should also buy this. Click here. Comes out Feb. 7.

Starbucks’ CEO Howard Schultz announced they would be hiring 10,000 refugees. Amazing.
And did you hear what Kal Penn did??? He’s also amazing.
Here is a cute baby sloth. Because reasons.

What’s In My Pocket Friday

January 27, 2017 By AJ Leave a Comment

Best of the web — and in the world

Confession: I love falling asleep at night watching television in bed. That’s a genuine sleep. Like, if you pass out watching something on TV that you put on with the intent to finish, that is some real-tired. And it’s a good sleep. Not like that sleep you fall into when you lay there for an hour, trying to force your brain to shut off, praying the sleep will eventually come. Last night was the first night in ages, in fact, when I slept straight through to my alarm waking me up the next morning in quite some time. Real sleep is the business.

ANYWAY….

Friends, enjoy these things that are presently giving me all the feels.

The problem with watching a Tasty video, is you end up actually watching like NINE Tasty videos.

This week, the nation’s zoos had a Twitter battle in which they just all posted photos of their cutest animals. This is why social media was invented, folks. It was amazing.
When do the Obamas come back from vacation? I don’t like the substitute teacher…. But did you catch the launch of the Obama Foundation? Looks promising. I’m basically down for whatever Bae wants to do.

I’m excited to be speaking at Dad 2.0 in February! I’ll be on a panel to discuss influencer marketing. What inappropriate overshare will I offer this time? Stay tuned….
My “Hollywood Brunch” instagram account is picking up! Make sure you’re following me here.
I took this quiz on Buzzfeed that assures me I am definitely over 30 (THANKS BUZZFEED). I liked it because it made me ever so nostalgic for the good ol’ days of MTV.

I shall conclude with NORBERT. I guess Norbert has been a thing for a while but I just discovered him and OMG is he the CUTEST! Just watch him give little high fives….