No Sneakers At the Office and more

I just finished reading the book No Sneakers at the Office: A Practical Handbook for the Business World for Goodreads.com and it was amazing.  A few chapters in and I knew I'd be giving it 5 stars.  It's what I always looked for in business books, but always got a lot of fluff from the books I chose.  Here is my actual review:

Honest to God, this is hands down the best business book I have ever read (and yes, I have read quite a few).  When you are looking for advice for the business world - this is exactly what you want.  It starts out with the issues that are supposed to be common sense, but it goes further and states real and helpful advice.  It is not so detailed it's boring and it's detailed enough to actually help.  I'm seriously impressed.  I think everyone should read this - not just execs.  I am working toward becoming a personal trainer and starting my own business and my husband is starting a new job in the exec world and we both got useful information and refreshers out of it.




In other news:  I am going to be moving to a different city and state for that matter.  We have a house to sell and I'm concentrating on weight loss and getting in shape to start personal training classes and begin my career in health and fitness.  I will still be working on Small Goalz in my spare time and I am going to leave the deadline as this October.  I have been working on a new blog related to my future career.  See it at http://sosalubrious.blogspot.com/

Love & Gratitude,
Erica Nicole

Update

The next post will be up after the 21st.  In the meantime I am developing another blog - have a 'look see'
http://sosalubrious.blogspot.com/

Kandee's Haters?

Wow - I had no idea the war that rages on concerning Kandee Johnson, but thought I should address it since I have a post on my blog regarding the personal empire she has built.  I never went to her Glaminar and never would as I'm not a makeup artist.  I have simply watched her videos - mostly her early ones.  And I have to say she made me smile and no matter what her intentions were - I didn't buy anything.  I never got a gun forced to my head to purchase anything she reviewed. 

The people against her may have a legitimate gripe, although I have not seen anything bad proven yet.  I honestly don't believe she had any intentions of malice toward anyone and I would like to defend her whole heartedly, but it's not like I know her personally. 

I will not turn on her and I wish her all the best and hope she gets all these matters settled in a calm and mature manner.  She's a human being and all these people who have created anti-Kandee pages and screaming karma's a bitch or whatever colorful language they'd like to throw in there - seems very hypocritical to me. 
If these people were wronged in some way - I hope they get their money back or get the justice they deserve (if they deserve it), but try to hold themselves to a higher standard and become more civilized than bringing Kandee's family or personal welfare into the issue. 

People who are upset because they gave money to Kandee....there is a thing that - I thought - was common knowledge that once your blog became popular - you put a paypal button up to get some income from putting a lot of time into producing what your fans want.  Now if she claimed she was in the poor house or something that is a different story.  But how many requests was Kandee given to do certain looks.  You're not supposed to give like 100 bucks here and there.  More like 1 dollar or 5 bucks.  People getting mad at her for this is akin to suing McDonalds for making people fat. 

Back when Screech wanted money to save his house and was selling t-shirts, I wanted to get the t-shirt as a joke gift for a friend.  I paid 20 bucks to him over paypal and never recieved a t-shirt.  That was a case of being promised something and not recieving it.  I still didn't threaten his life or freak out over a t-shirt.  If she told these people they were donating money - that's how it goes - you donate.

do·na·tion

   /doʊˈneɪʃən/ Show Spelled[doh-ney-shuhn] Show IPA

–noun

1.

an act or instance of presenting something as a gift, grant, or contribution.

2.

a gift, as to a fund; contribution.


Good god - get over it.  As for the Glaminars.  From what I can tell - ppl may have legitimate complaints, but who knows.  All of these sites are so jumbled with information I can't really tell what people are so angry about.  It's really not that hard to create a real site with the bullet points of why you hate a person.  Share the hate because that is exactly what we should all be doing - that is exactly how we make the world a better place.

I enjoyed Kandee's makeup tutorials.  I don't really care about her family vids and blog unless there is a new product up there.  To which I use my brain and make a conscious decision if I like it or think it might be a scam.  I like watching old Kandee vids when I'm down, but I will take this as a lesson learned to never open up about family or my personal life because people will use it to tear you apart. 

I'll keep listing her as an inspiration to me because she has turned a bad mood into a more tolerable one with her videos.  I'm not going to turn my back on someone who made me happy - even for a little while - because of a few people who think I shouldn't.  I will continue watching her makeup vids and other youtuber's makeup videos when I need some tips or advice.  I have no interest in her as a business aside from what she made of herself.  I only hope she takes a moment to remember what she built and right all the wrongs if she has made them.  Answer the questions and if you made a mistake, Kandee, fess up and just set it right.  You'll be fine.  You're a very talented woman.  Maybe the gimmick just went a bit too far?  Who knows.  Remember that until you have haters and tabloids running lies - you aren't successful ha ha - jk.Kandee - thank you for the smiles!

Related posts on this blog:  http://smallgoalz.blogspot.com/2010/09/personal-empires.html  and http://smallgoalz.blogspot.com/2010/09/personal-empires.html

Love & Gratitude,
Erica Nicole

Changes

I have many hobbies.  And I have tried to follow that little rule of 'do what you love to do and it'll never feel like work', but when I turned my hobbies into money-making side businesses - suddenly they felt like work and I was left with no hobbies. 

I have so many ideas for websites and I plan to use them all.  But they are hobbies.  They are just for fun.  I have been stressing over this one so much it started to be a real bore and pain for nothing. 

When I was younger, I loved the idea of encouraging people who thought they couldn't get motivated to get up and start changing their lives.  I loved the idea of becoming a personal trainer, but I was not fit myself.  Now I am using a personal trainer to get to where I need to be to go after that dream.  The big one I am really after is ~Nutritionist.  I am drawn to healthy food and knowing everything there is to know about it - including the new studies that shatter everyone's current perceptions.  I watch every food documentary I can get - from Kings of Pastry to Fat Head.  I read every good article I can find. 

And the best part of all - I've been on the journey myself.  From obese to fit and fab.  I've felt the despair and the depression.  I know what it takes and how much work is involved.
I'm now on this journey to get fit, become a certified personal trainer and nutritionist. 

My beloved websites are still very much on my mind, but have slipped back into the hobby category.  So while I am still journaling my thoughts and feelings on the matter, the blogs won't be produced on a regular basis.  Some weeks there may be one everyday and other weeks there may not be one at all.  I do not want to be strict and fit this in a tiny box and boss myself around.  This is an invention that should flow naturally and freely - just as the ideas came into my head.  I will learn how to create them or find someone who knows how and yes I still hope to have Small Goalz completed by October 31 of this year.  So rest assured there is still work going on.

I will put information on my journey into personal training and my goals in this area into future blogs.  Small Goalz has been a big push in getting me to this point.  So it does work. 

Love & Gratitude,
Erica Nicole

Connected and Ready to Edit

I connected the site to the editing software yesterday.  I am really excited to get this project up and running as that October 31, 2011 deadline looms ahead. 

On one hand it seems like plenty of time, but on the other, it is a daunting task (for me anyway) to learn PHP and mysql from books and web videos. 

I love the challenge, but that doesn't make it any less scary. 

Other than that, there is not much to report.  The latest read was a book sent to me by Gotham Books called life, on the line by Grant Achatz and Nick Kokonas. 

I loved the determination in this book.  I love rags to riches stories and while this book kind of lacked the rags issue, Grant faces a huge challenge with *spoiler alert* facing cancer that could end his career and his life which, seems one in the same with him.  I gave it 5 stars on Goodreads, because although there were obvious character flaws - that is the point of autobiographies -  to allow the author's personality to show and shine the light on the good as well as the bad.

My review on goodreads.com:

I enjoy reading about people who know what they want and their reactions to the challenges they face in getting there. This book reads like a good fiction story. The payoff is that you can actually visit the places in this book when you have finished reading.

I suppose there are big egos here, but I still see the people involved as human beings. It was an interesting read and I would recommend it to anyone. The only thing I did not care for was the fact both guys made it seem like they would raise their standards for critics and I am not naive enough to believe this doesn't go on in nearly every restaurant. It just wasn't becoming. Service should be good enough for everyone - these customers are paying a high price to eat there. But still, I've added eating at Alinea to my mental life list and I wish the authors continuing success in all endeavors!

 Love & Gratitude,
Erica Nicole

The 50th Post

I have just returned from an amazing weekend getaway with my husband of six years.  We are relaxed and ready to take on the world once again. 

We did not discuss or think about work or projects much, but as soon as I woke up this morning, my brain was spinning on new additions to the site and what my next steps are going to be. 

I have been exercising and eating better foods for a month and a half or so and even did free (hotel provided) exercise videos every morning of our getaway which I think shows dedication. 
I have realized that no matter what happens, I must stick with my exercise and nutrition because it's what I want to do and be.  I have put becoming a nutritionist out of my mind because I refuse to be a fat nutritionist.  And personal trainer?  I've thought about doing it since my early teens, but again - fat personal trainer?  That is hilarious. 

So the sessions I have with my personal trainer and the nutrition class I am debating about taking to get a leg up on the whole thing...all serve to not only improve my own health and body, but also to help me in my career. 

All of these goals have much to do with my Small Goalz website and I am extremely excited to have this project to work on while I work out and get healthy and begin to take my tests and classes to become what I want to be. 

My Small Goalz program has had a lot to do with this coming to fruition and I cannot wait to introduce it to the public.  As I said before - no matter how it is taken once I reveal the site, if only one other person uses it regularly and sees it as helpful - I will be beyond joyful. 

No good movies or reads lately to speak of - I did read Overnight Socialite recently and I do NOT recommend it at all.  It had potential, but fell very flat.  I don't think I can recommend Birdie Clark as an author in general if I judged by this book, but I have not read her other titles so I'll withhold judgment for now. 

Love & Gratitude,
Erica Nicole 

Favorites

So - it's time to have fun with this post.

Favorite movie:  Tombstone with The Dark Knight coming in at close second.
Favorite color:  dark reds
Favorite band:  Green Day
Favorite type of music:  I like everything from Disturbed to Eminem to Merle Haggard
Favorite song:  That's the Way Love Goes - Merle Haggard
Favorite play:  Wicked
Favorite tv show:  Of all time I'll go with ER I guess.  I don't really watch much tv anymore.
Favorite boardgame:  aggravation and monopoly
Favorite sport:  baseball, softball - I'm getting very interested in tennis and anything to do with skating
Favorite video game:  a few months ago I would have said WoW, but I'm going to go with Age of Empires
Favorite app: Pocket Frogs
Favorite hobby:  researching my family tree
Favorite dance:  swing, square, cha cha, polka - I don't dance now but I took a ballroom class in high school and these were my faves
Favorite website:  Stumbleupon.com
Favorite social network:  I have deactivated all of those accounts.  I get so much more done - very freeing.
Favorite book: Pillars of the Earth
What are you reading now?:  I just finished Water for Elephants.  I am currently reading several books - from technical to chick lit. 
Favorite dessert:  Too many... but if I have to choose one...warm brownie or lava cake with vanilla ice cream and strawberries.  Or my own chocolate covered cherries  Red Velvet Cake is high on the list too - see what I mean?  Too many!

Sorry to be a sellout with this post ha ha.

Love & Gratitude,
Erica Nicole