An escape...

Rich greens, deep blues birds chirping and ocean breezes-things I rarely (ok never) see from the confines of my 15th floor NYC apartment were all just part of the norm at a place I like to call paradise. Nope, not the Carribean or even Hawaii, my slice of heaven can be found in the wonderful little state of RI, and most recently on Block Island, RI.

Life in RI is so simple and peaceful and when my boyfriend and I recently visited 'the Block" we honestly felt like we were on some fantasy island. People were friendly and said hello

as they passed you by, cab drivers were jovial and helpful and chatty in the good way not the-I'm on my phone speaking erraticly in a foreign language-way. Ironically both cab drivers that we had while visiting (you only needed a cab to and from the ferry, the rest of the time you strolled or rode a bike-ahh sighhhh) were people that lived on Block Island year-round and loved the peaceful picture perfect setting. One guy told us he came for a job as teacher and never left. At this point I was convinced that I should cancel my return trip and apply for a job at the Block Island Times but my cab driver just laughed and agreed that they "probably didn't pay much."

After a lovely and relaxing trip of seafood, beaches, coronas, moped-riding and pretty sunsets, we headed back to NY and I found myself wondering "Am I really a city girl, or do I belong in a tiny little beach town?" I'm constantly torn between the desire to be really successful in my career which probably requires at least a few years in a big city and the desire to live in a quaint town near the beach. Unfortunately I'm not sure there's much of a market f

or a Social Media Marketer, blogger or otherwise-at least on Block Island. In fact, I kinda got the feeling that if I tried to explain what I did to any of the locals, they'd be confused in the way that my 80-year grandmother is.

For now, I'm back to city-girl Allie, but I can't wait for my next vacation! I highly recommend a visit to Block Island for anyone looking for a relaxing and perfect little beach getaway in the Northeast.

"These Streets Will Make You Feel Brand New"

Tonight I went to see Sex and the City 2. Me and about a million other fabulous ladies of NYC! I went to the Ziegfeld Theater, which is this amazing old-fashioned theater that still has ushers and a "stage" where the movie screen is--AND the theater was actually IN the movie...which was pretty cool! In prime SATC fashion there was even a faux red carpet where decked out ladies (and I mean DECKED OUT like gold sequined pants DECKED OUT...) posed for pictures and sipped on cosmos.

I think every modern-day single gal these days has thought of themselves as a "Carrie" at one time or another--especially if they ever wanted to be a writer, live in NYC or find true love. I myself have always thought that I truly *am* like Carrie, having been perpetually single for most of my twenties and writing my own column for a while for the local paper. Plus, I actually AM sitting in my bed right now with a view of the Empire State Building out my window furiously typing on my Macbook Pro (for the record, Carrie never had the view, but still!).

Sadly though, this is where the similarities end. The older I get, and the more I actually live and work in "real life NYC" the more I realize that SATC is just an amazing fantasy that most women are easily sucked into due the crafty writing and universal themes of love, friendship and happiness (oh and the clothes and shoes).

Before I actually lived in NYC, I definitely had a *slightly* skewed view of what life would really be like. NYC is without a doubt the most amazing city in the world, the place where anything seems possible and the energy is palpable, but trust me it's not all cosmos and Manolos (especially without a trust fund or what I like to call a "corner office" job). And dating? While I'm not single right now, I have never seen a man that even resembles Mr. Big-or Aidan for that matter! I like to think of them as mythical men made up of a compilation of every woman in the world's "dream man." Every woman wants either an Aidan or a Big. The thing is, most of the great men I know (including my boyfriend!) have a little of both in them...

That being said, I give the new movie two enthusiastic thumbs up as a great way to spend a couple hours with your girlfriends laughing, crying and remembering that anything is possible...

...queue "Empire State of Mind"...and yes, this song IS in the movie! :)

Major life updates

Whoa, whoa, whoa--it's the end of MAY already?! Once again, I've been completely MIA with no good excuse at all. In my defense though, here is a rundown of the major life changes that have occurred since my last post!

Left my job of the past year for a new beginning, said goodbye to some really great and interesting people

Started my new job with an incredible company that is very "likeable!" (more details to come!)

Celebrated my two-year anniversary with my boyfriend (by far the longest relationship of my life for those who were wondering)

Found out said-boyfriend is moving (temporarily, hopefully) to pursue his passion of coaching and teaching and generally molding and influencing young minds (commendable)

I promise to write more (a promise I KEEP making), until then--thanks for sticking with me folks! :)

Email address frenzy!

Since I first entered the "internetz" circa 1999 I've had 4 different personal email addresses (NOT counting various work email addresses).

First, it was AOL, then my college URI.edu address, then Hotmail because AOL was "a joke," THEN Yahoo because Hotmail was a joke...and NOW I feel Yahoo might be a joke and I should switch YET again to Gmail?! Where does it end folks? Will I forever be changing my email address every few years just to have the coolest, newest handle or is there really an advantage to me getting a Gmail account? I've completely phased out my AOL account (although as I noted in my earlier post, I totally DO still have my original AIM screen name), I basically keep my Hotmail account as my "sign up for stuff" account that I rarely check, although I definitely still get email there, and my Yahoo is currently my main, sent to my phone, email account.

To be honest, Yahoo works fine for my personal needs and rarely gives me any problems except for the occasional freeze or temporary glitch on my iPhone, but overall, it does the job. So, my question is this, should I really switch to Gmail just "because" or are there legitimate benefits to it? I need some concrete reasons why people! And is there an easy way to get the word out on my new address, any services that will forward from all my old accounts, etc.? Do social media types really judge someone by their email handle--I mean I've seriously heard people say (or occasionally seen people tweet) things like "he called himself a social media expert-and then gave me his Hotmail address, LOLZ" or something to that effect. So what's the deal folks, convince me, switch to Gmail to be "hip" or just stop the insanity and keep what I have for now?

New Look!

Wow, I've spent way too much time tonight mulling over my new blog design. While the basic "harbor" theme that I remember loving so much when I first saw it on blogger a few years ago served me well (and reminded me of Newport, RI, one of my favorite places on Earth), I knew it was time for a *slightly* more mature look!

As much as I love, love, love the beach and wanted so badly to make my background a sunset on a pier in Tahiti, I figured I'd give my blog a "city edge" since that's where I currently live and work.

How do you like it folks??

I'd love suggestions, help, ideas, etc. from my readers. Even though I work in social media I have a somewhat limited knowledge of web design, coding, etc. so this took me a few hours but I plan on adding some other stuff soon as well. Twitter widgets, photos, more pages, etc.

Along with the new look I also plan to add a lot more content to the blog and have been jotting down all the crazy things I want to write about on scraps of paper for the last few days now! Call it a "creative burst" but I'm feeling all bloggy again :)

More to come, so stay tuned!

Hilarious...

I had to post this here because I am still laughing about it a full day later. One of my best friends forwarded me an old IM convo she had saved from a few years ago. It took place I would guess within the first month of my first "real world" job at a PR firm in NY (Editor's note: I spent the previous 3+ years waiting tables by the beach in Newport, RI). Big public thank you to my friend Jen for getting me through those first few rocky weeks. I think we can all appreciate when we first learned of the infamous "BCC"...

(And yes my AOL screename was, and embarasssingly still IS, smilesah)

SmilesAH: what does IT stand for
SmilesAH: like computer fixer for our office is called "IT" guy
jnylee22: IT?
jnylee22: usually Internet and Technology for dept type things at work
jnylee22: is that what you mean
SmilesAH: i dont know these terms, im not cut out for corporate world
SmilesAH: i should just be left to write free flowing poetry and mail it into someone else to publish, i dont like CCing, and did u know u can BCC? and the expression "going forward"?
jnylee22: yeah i never say "going forward"...but i BCC all the time
jnylee22: you know what people say at my work all the time that i hate...?
jnylee22: 'please advise'
SmilesAH: yes, HATE IT...umm BCCing reminds me of that scene in mean girls with the 3 way calling
SmilesAH: i dont like it, its sneaky
jnylee22: yeah people at my work only do it when they're trying to make someone see how stupid someone else is
jnylee22: 'like hey i just bcc'd you on that email to mandy..what a dumbass hahahaha'
jnylee22: and then we all laugh
SmilesAH: can the BCCed see who else got it
jnylee22: yes
jnylee22: but not if someone another bccer
jnylee22: just either the tos or the CCs
jnylee22: the bcc can see everyone except another bccer
SmilesAH: but no one else can see the BCCed
jnylee22: right
SmilesAH: SHIT
SmilesAH: so peopleknow they were Bcc
jnylee22: right
SmilesAH: shitshitshit
SmilesAH: i so wrongly BCCed today!
jnylee22: hahahahahaha
jnylee22: why what happened?
SmilesAH: well i was sending what this reporter thought was an exclusive story idea to him, but I was sending it to another reporter too, so i BCCed one, figuring neither could see each, so The one who was BCCed knows it went to someone else but the one who was To doesnt know anyone else got it right?>
SmilesAH: I need to figure out whose gonna be pissed at me
jnylee22: yes thats exactly it
SmilesAH: so the TO is gonna be pissed
jnylee22: no the BCC is gonna be pissed
SmilesAH: so theres no way to send to multiple people blindly?
SmilesAH: ohh right, the BCC
SmilesAH: the TO didnt see the BCCed
SmilesAH: ahhhhh I hate corporate america, i thought screwing up somones drink order was bad
jnylee22: yeah you can...send it to yourself as the TO and BCC both seperated by commas
SmilesAH: ohhh the double BCC is that legal??
jnylee22: yes very
SmilesAH: u have to TO someone
jnylee22: you do
jnylee22: its just that sometimes with that it looks shady bc they know they got that email somehow and they prob know that trick
SmilesAH: this is very helpful Jen i must say, good thing I didnt also BCC my boss like were supposed to when we send important clients emails, because then shed know my error
SmilesAH: its all coming together, how come no one explained
jnylee22: i thought it was known
SmilesAH: ur like a fountain of knowledge right now
jnylee22: but then again i mustve just got it when i started at verisign
SmilesAH: ive spent the last 7 years of my life behind a frosted glass, how would i know these things
jnylee22: i dont know al, im just glad i was here to help

Back to Happy Allie...

So, seeing as my last post was kinda a downer (and also labeled "melodramatic" by certain family members) I will now (attempt) to return to previously scheduled programming, AKA funny, witty, snarky Allie posts about pop culture, ditsy PR girls and bizarre "only in NYC" observations...

For today, I will observe that NYers "jump the gun" a little when it comes to summer. Yes, today was gorgeous out (hallelujah!) but was it really short shorts weather? I mean was it really teeny-tiny flowered dress weather ladies? Especially when pasty shoulders and unpainted toenails are involved, you may want to at least wait until May to make your summer outfit debut!

I also get a good chuckle out of all the restaurants that suddenly offer "outdoor" seating when the weather turns warm. Sidewalks have never been in such high demand! I have to laugh when there are like 3 tables crammed on the sidewalk and everyone is fighting for the "patio seating."

Also related--I can't do my gosh darn laundry tonight in my building because everyone apparently had the same idea--there is still a line for a washer at nearly 10pm. Oh NY, why must you love me, hate me, and then love me again...