Happy Holidays to everyone out there!
May you and yours stay safe, healthy and happy. Best wishes as we head into 2021!
Publicist | Social Media Strategist | Brunch Fanatic
My first day of “Quarantine Life” was Friday, March 13 and so it struck me as rather “full circle” when November 13 also fell on a Friday. And that is eight months of this life wherein I have not been able to go to a bar with my friends, enjoy a leisurely Sunday Brunch, stroll through a bookstore, work on my laptop in my favorite coffee shop, order a breakfast-for-lunch at my favorite diner counter, travel to see friends and family. The list goes on.
I feel a bit like a whiny baby when I have these thoughts. Could you imagine doing this in the 80s? In the 70s? We are lucky this has happened to us with the comforts and conveniences we have. What if there were not internet, no Facetime, no Netflix? So there is that. Yes, we are lucky.
Presumedly we have all made sacrifices. (And frankly, if you have not — if you are one of THOSE people, click here.) And it seems now that I better understand gratitude. At minimum, I certainly appreciate small freedoms I took for granted previously. And I miss them.
At night, when I am dreading the following day, which will undoubtedly feel much like the day before, and the day before that, my mind wanders. Sometimes to trivialities wherein I find myself mindlessly adding things to my Amazon or Nordstrom wishlists. And sometimes my thoughts are broader and I think about all of the places around the world I want to go. There are so many more than I realized and it often becomes overwhelming. Where will I go first? Iceland? Helsinki? Back to Puerto Vallarta? Just up to Seattle or over to Austin? I would love to go on a cruise.
It’s funny because I’m not a “wanderlust” person. I have several friends whom have traveled the world and I love to see their photos and hear stories, but for me, I have always been quite happy to vacation domestically. I love New York and will go over and over. I don’t usually crave new and unfamiliar surroundings. Yet in this current life, I think of it often. I make lots of lists. I listen to travel podcasts and watch videos. I watch a lot of house tours from Architectural Digest and follow a bunch of Instagram accounts I’d not heard of months ago.
I often think about things I would like to do with my friends. (I should clarify here that I think of my family as well but my Shelter-in-place “pod” includes some of them, so I do see family members.) The last big activity pre-Quarantine was a visit to a wine bar and bookstore with girlfriends and it was a lovely day. I would like to do that again. I want to get a group together and drink at a bar for no reason. I would love to go with a couple friends to a spa and get massages followed by relaxing in a hot tub, whispering gossip between us. It would be nice to go shopping together or lay by someone’s pool. I would like to take a client to my club, go sit in their lounge and enjoy my favorite sandwich. I have many friends who live out of town – the list of who I want to go visit is long.
But let’s be honest, the things I miss the most are hugs and high fives. I miss leaving a place and casually hugging everyone on the way out. I miss entering a room and excitedly hugging a friend I haven’t seen in a while hello. When someone tells a funny joke, I want to laugh and throw up my hand for a high five without a care. I want to cuddle with someone. So while I feel like this Quarantine Life has made me greedy for many things, what it’s made me want the most is a huge, monstrous, loving group hug.
By AJ 2 Comments
My very first edition of “An Old Person’s Guide To The Millennial Vocabulary” was a smashing success so crafting Volume Two was a no-brainer. It’s been a hot minute since, but at long last, I felt it was time to get back into my hard core research (i.e. crowd-sourcing on Facebook) and assemble the latest words I do not understand for a third volume of my glossary series.
You guys, every time I put one of these together, it’s a stunning reminder that I am AGING. Sigh.
Best life: A hella (do people still use “hella?”) catchy song by Cardi B but also, a way of expressing pride as in “living my best life” or a compliment “he’s living his best life.”
Bougie: Typically used sarcastically to describe someone acting uppity or of a higher class.
Canceled: To reject something because it’s no longer trendy or it’s become too ratchet.
Chuh: If someone says “chuh,” it means they’ve combined sure and yep into one word. (Why is that necessary?)
Curve: If you reject someone, you in essence , “curve them.”
Darty: Day party. There will probably be day drinking there.
Dipset: To depart. To exit. To bounce. As in “Hey guys, I’m about to dipset but I’ll talk to you later.”
Esh-get-it: Or, “esketit.” Short for “let’s get it.”
Finsta: Short for a fake Instagram. If you ask me, the term is misleading because it’s a private Insta account to show off the real aspects of your daily life that you wouldn’t feel comfortable sharing with followers on a regular page. So it’s not really fake, right?
Fire: About as cool as something can get. “That dish is straight fire.”
Flex: Showing off, “flexing,” your valuables in a non-humble way.
Gassed: When someone has had one too many compliments and is full of themselves
Generic: When you are so, so basic, you are just generic.
Girlypop: Girlypop is some girls’ favorite way to classify their friends. A general greeting that some use regularly to acknowledge their besties.
GMT: An acronym for “getting me tight,” which is getting upset.
Issa mood: Simply short for “it’s a mood.” How it sounds.
It me: A way to convey something represents exactly how you feel.
JOMO: Perhaps you have heard of “FOMO,” which is “fear of missing out” (and if not, it was in Volume One). JOMO is the opposite; the “joy of missing out.” (And BTW, it me.)
Kiki: In addition to being the subject matter of a super annoying Drake song (#SorryNotSorry), it’s also a synonym for a party.
LB/FB: Some text speak for “like back” and “follow back.”
Merch: Merch is short for “merchandise,” AKA swag or, really, just stuff.
Mom: The most responsible friend in the group
Noods: Nudes. Like, we’re that silly now that we’re just spelling words differently with the same amount of letters.
Norts: Norts are the ultimate fashion statement when you arrive at college. Norts began as Nike shorts, but now can include any shorts. They may seem extremely short when wearing them, but it’s just because those who sport them are wearing shirts that are three times their actual size.
Phubbing: Snubbing someone to pay attention to your phone instead.
Quiche: Used to describe someone who is hotter than hot.
Respeck: So much respect you can’t even get the ‘T’ sound out of your mouth. (EYE ROLL.)
Salty: Pissed off, annoyed, etc.
Shook: An adjective to describe a state of shock. “Girl, I am shook.”
Smol: Sometime small and adorable like a puppy or kitten.
Snack: I’m not saying I endorse this, but it’s when someone looks so good, you could eat them, hence you refer to them as a “snack.”
Suh: This word is a shortened version of “what’s up” — like many of these terms, it came into use as a way to shorten an existing phrase for texting purposes.
Swerve: A command to get someone out of the way or command someone to avoid something.
Tea: Tea is gossip. You can pour it, you can drink it and you can serve it. All the tea. So much tea. (I love this one!)
Thicc: Someone with curves
Thirst trap: A sexy photograph or flirtatious message posted on social media
Trill: True and real.
Troll: This is not a reference to the creatures often found in works of fiction. Rather, it refers to assholes who have nothing better to do than provoke others online with negativity.
Tuning: Chatting a person up in a flirtatious manner to advance toward a sexual or romantic relationship. “Ugh, he was tuning some random girls on Tinder….”
Weird flex: Often stated as “weird flex, but okay” when someone brags about something that isn’t really brag-worthy.
Wig snatched: Exposing someone to reveal the truth
Xennials: TFW milennials hate being called milennials because only milennials would make up a new word to categorize themselves under.
Yeet: A way to show excitement or agree. But also to disagree. Yeeting is very versatile. Like “fuck!” but less offensive.
Za: Apparently we’re shortening the word “pizza” now. I wish we wouldn’t. This is ridiculous.
# # #
Y’all, it’ll be a good chunk of time before I get to the next volume but did I miss any words? I’m open to amendments! Drop me a note in the comments.
Greetings from my cozy perch with extra leg room aboard Alaska Airlines, flight 1404 to New York. At least, that’s when I’m starting this post. The world changed for me when I lost weight and could suddenly sit in an airplane seat comfortable and put the tray-table down. I find I am deeply productive on planes as a result, and that once I am over my initial anxieties about take-off, I look forward to the isolation solo travel brings. (UPDATE: I am finishing this post from an even cozier perch – my hotel bed in Manhattan.)
And in other news, I have added a new section to my “Friday Favorites.” Something a little more professionally relevant to me and, hopefully, informative to you.
WHAT I READ
OTHER BLOGGERS & INFLUENCERS
PR & SOCIAL MEDIA
EARLIER THIS WEEK
VIDEO SPOTLIGHT
As some of you may know, I’ve recently begun freelancing full-time as a publicist and social media strategist.
After more than a dozen years working alongside some of television, music and film’s most talented artists and executives, I am proud to announce the launch of my own full-service public relations and social media consultancy, working with content creators, networks, distributors and more. I’m thrilled that I have already had the opportunity to work on some terrific independent films in 2018. It’s been a really fast and exhilarating turnaround and I am so blessed to have the support of so many.
I’ve been surrounded by many talented professionals in diverse fields that have all contributed to my past projects’ successes as well as my own professional growth and it is my hope those relationships will continue as I move forward with this next stage of my career.
Please also know I am working on a website revamp (see that “New Business” menu item up there?) but did not want to wait on that to reach out to all of you lovely readers and share this news!
By AJ 3 Comments
Apparently, National Cheese Lovers Day is January 20, but that’s like EVERY DAY for me. Hence, this Fresh Brothers Giveaway. (You’re welcome.)
I was under the weather recently, and took to Twitter to whine about it as one does, and who else but my friends at Fresh Brothers responded to wish me well AND to send me dinner. Not too long after, a few emails later, a white pizza and some chicken arrived at my door and it was appreciated. I am not a good patient and couldn’t have been happier to have a meal delivered to my home. You know, anything that allows me to remain in my pajamas and fixated on the television.
What’s more, Fresh Brothers‘ new white pizza is absolutely delicious! Added for the holidays, it has dollops of creamy ricotta, romano and crushed garlic, with all natural mozzarella, on a fresh-made crust drizzled with extra virgin olive oil. It’s my new favorite thing on their menu — and that is really saying something because I am a FB fangirl. I am obsessed with their meatball sliders, their chicken parmesan sliders and their customizable salads. Their website is so user-friendly and if you order pick-up through their app, they give you a discount. What’s not to love?
So here are the details — enter below and GOOD LUCK!
Prize value: $50
By AJ 2 Comments
It’s been ages since we’ve all connected and I apologize. But life, right?! And boy has there been a lot of life for me these days. Accidents and injuries and dancing and dieting… Insanity, guys, I assure you. And in my “real life,” I’m overseeing PR and social for more than a dozen films, so needless to say, my time has become…. well, more valuable. But the web lives on! It is here for you. It is here with the love and the laughter (and the news, but let’s overlook that)… On with the glorious things I’ve saved in my pocket for you — the best of the web:
When one of your favorite people in the world tells you they have Breast Cancer, what do you do? Well, you do a lot of the clichéd things and if you’re me, apparently you also make a Bingo card so that when you and everyone else is doing said things, they can laugh their way through it:
Cancer sucks. It takes so much from all of us. Please don’t let it take away your sense of humor. It doesn’t deserve that privilege.
My friend, I love you.
Best of the web. Yes, please. Look, the other day I watched our President-elect stand in front of American flags, at a podium, with Trump-branded products like wine and steak to either side of him on display, cruelly mock journalists and refer to the news as “crap.” So I needed to laugh and laugh good before I started to punch things.
Hence this week, you’ll find everything in my Pocket induces laughter. Much, much needed laughter.
So what about you? What makes my smile and laugh? Share in the comments so I can join in, please. 😉
One of my goals in 2016 is to use my online platforms to raise awareness for a worthy cause. On Sat., 10/15, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) will host the Santa Monica Out of the Darkness Community Walk. My friend Alyssa and I have formed a team to participate and to raise awareness for mental health-related issues and funds for suicide prevention. There are two simple ways to help us out: join our team and/or donate (no amount is too big or too small)!
It is also important to spread the word that September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month which helps promote resources and awareness around the issues of suicide prevention, how you can help others and how to talk about suicide without increasing the risk of harm.
It’s important to remember that suicidal thoughts can affect anyone regardless of age, gender or background. Suicide is the third leading cause of death among young people and is often the result of mental health conditions.
LOTS! In addition to supporting my October walk team, consider using your own online platforms and influence for good! Here is some reading material, information and graphics to help.
Share the images and graphics below (click for full size) during the month of September to help promote awareness of suicide prevention resources and promote discussion of suicide prevention awareness. You can also use #suicideprevention or #IAmStigmaFree on social media.
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