Twenty-Five and Counting

This past September my parents celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary. My siblings and I knew we wanted to do something very special for our folks, to help celebrate this major milestone, so we decided to build a keepsake book full of childhood pictures taken with our parents. We added our own written thoughts and arranged the book chronologically, from when my parents first met, to the birth of their first child (me) and all the way to present day.

I took on majority of the responsibility when it came to curating the pictures and formatting the design. I was pleasantly surprised with how easy – and affordable – it was to use the self-publishing site MyPublisher.com. The program started off with a few simple templates, which I could easily work to my liking, and in just a few short days, the completed project was placed on my doorstep.  In the end, the book was a major hit, and we really enjoyed flipping through the pages as a family.

Happy Memorial Day

After days of rain and mugginess, Memorial Day came through bright and sunny. The sky was perfectly blue and nearly cloudless as I drove back to Kansas City following an action-packed weekend with my family in Omaha. Here's to hoping you had a fun-filled holiday weekend as well.

Keep Calm

It's Wednesday, so perhaps the stress of the week is starting to catch up. So let's just keep calm and carry on.

App-solutely Beautiful

I love asking people what their favorite iPhone app is, since it's a great way to find out about new and useful smartphone tools. While I don't necessarily use my favorite app on a daily basis, it's so dang pretty, I had to bring it up. Red Stamp is the perfect way to offer a cheerful word to a friend who's having a bad day, or to send that Mother's Day card you forgot to pick up at the convenience store. Sometimes I even brighten my own day, just looking through this app. It's pretty nice having an app full of happy in my pocket.

Reads for Recent Grads

When I graduated from college last year, I knew life after college would be a time of self discovery and change. I wanted to prepare myself in the best way possible, so I did a little research on books for recent post-grads. Below are a few of my favorites, the ones that I found to be most helpful. I have also included the Twitter handles for each author below, as I have found them to be a useful and up-to-date extension of what I learned from these books.

Getting from College to Career: 90 Things to Do Before You Join the Real World

By Lindsey Pollak

@lindseypollak

This book is chalk full of job interview and resume advice, as well as some helpful pointers on goal setting and staying educated on your career of choice. It was also extremely motivating.

Quarterlife Crisis: The Unique Challenges of Life in Your Twenties

By Alexandra Robbins and Abby Wilner

@AlexndraRobbins

I'm so glad I read this book before I started working full-time, because it offered extremely valuable advice on smoothly navigating the difficult transition from student to working professional. This is a must read for anyone who has wondered: "What will life be like after college?"

The Happiness Project

By Gretchen Rubin

@gretchenrubin

The thing I love about Gretchen Rubin's book is that it is as applicable to recent college grads as it is to fully seasoned working professionals and parents. My mom is in the middle of reading this book, and she says she's found ways to search out happiness in her life. Post-grads experience a lot of change, and it's beneficial to know what makes you happy and how to guide change in a way that will lead you down a path toward happiness.

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

By Susan Cain

@susancain

I've discussed Susan Cain's book in-depth before, but I think it bears repeating here, especially since a good portion of the book discusses introverts and extroverts in the workplace. Engaging with different, and even clashing, personalities on the job will be commonplace for many recent grads, so I highly recommend reading up, whether you're an introvert or extrovert. 

Titanic

It was gloomy the Sunday afternoon my sister and I visited the Titanic artifact exhibit at Kansas City's Union Station. My sister is a self-described Titanic history buff, so together we carved out some time to see the exhibit on April 15th,  the 100th anniversary of the Titanic's sinking.

At the very beginning of the exhibit we received boarding passes with the name of an actual passenger from the Titanic. My passenger, Elin Matilda Dolck Hakkarainen, was a 24-years-old, third-class woman from Helsinki, Finland. According to the boarding pass, Elin and her husband Pekka were fleeing the economic hardship and political oppression caused by the Russion occupation of Finland. 

The layout of the exhibit was mesmerizing, as the Titanic was first introduced us as a luxurious masterpiece of engineering and innovation. There were life-sized replicas of first- and third-class rooms, and a massive picture of the sweeping Grand Staircase. The artifacts themselves - which included everything from jewelry and gold-rimmed tea cups to tools and portholes - were remarkably well-preserved after being two and a half miles under the ocean for over 75 years. 

The cheerfulness of the beginning soon turned dark and ominous as we neared the iceberg. My sister noted the temperature seemed to drop the further along we were in the exhibit. By the time we learned of the events resulting in the sinking of the ship, we felt like the passengers on that night, boarding lifeboats over freezing water.

The very last leg of the exhibit included a wall featuring the names and classes of everyone who lived and died on the Titanic. I found that my passenger, Elin Hakkarainen, survived the sinking, although her husband did not. It was moving to see the other exhibit-goers crowd around the wall to see if their passenger was one of the mere 706 survivors (out of 2,223 passengers). That final wall made the whole story very real and very human.  

Lesson Learned: Make sure your ship has enough life boats.  

A Fresh and Funny Perspective

Entering the world of public relations, I really have come to appreciate the creativity that runs rampant in this field, but also the abundance of humor. It's important to be able to make light of stressful situations, especially in PR, since it can be very easy to let the little things bring you down, with strict deadlines, unforeseen crises, writer's block, etc. Seeking fresh perspective when it comes to your career can be remarkably funny as well. Check out these "first world problems of PR pros."

Quiet

I recently read a book that has made quite an impact on the way I view myself and my relationships. "Quiet," by Susan Cain, investigates the power of introverts (think Rosa Parks, Eleanor Roosevelt, Albert Einstein, Bill Gates and J.K. Rowling) in a society that idealizes extroverted behavior (think Benjamin Franklin, FDR, President Obama, Oprah and Justin Bieber). 

I highly recommend this book to anyone who considers themself to be an introvert or to anyone who communicates regularly with introverts. I particularly enjoyed learning about scientific research that has explored genetic and environmental factors that may contribute toward a person's introverted or extroverted nature. And as a self-proclaimed introvert (or pseudo-extrovert, as I learned from the book), I was relieved to hear that giving into my introverted tendencies doesn't mean there's anything "wrong" with me. But if I have a goal, or a dream, or an item on my bucket list that will require an extroverted demeanor, I must be prepared to step out of my comfort zone and challenge myself. Perhaps that was the very reason I started this blog. 

The book also delved into corporate culture and the overwhelming number of businesses that have implemented "open" office plans in which employees do not have space to work in solitude. I definitely agree with Cain's opinion that these work spaces are not conducive creative environments for introverts, who may become easily overwhelmed by nearby distractions, hindering their productivity. I'm convinced my happiness and productivity at my own job is enhanced by my ability to shut my office door and dive into a difficult task in solitude. Individual work spaces are necessary because in the right conditions, Cain wrote, introverts are the people "who can help you think deeply, strategize, solve complex problems, and spot canaries in your coal mine." 

Cain concluded with a wonderful summary of useful insights, but namely this: "Respect your loved ones' needs for socializing and your own solitude (and vice versa if you're an extrovert)...Spend your free time the way you like, not the way you think you're supposed to." Simply, make the most of your introverted strengths.

Lesson Learned: "In a gentle way, you can shake the world." 

– Mahatma Gandhi

Additional Reading

NPR – Quiet, Please: Unleashing 'The Power Of Introverts'

CNN – Introverts Run the World — Quietly

New York Times – In New Office Designs, Room to Roam and to Think

Graduation Day

Today is graduation day at my alama mater, so I've been thinking a lot about my graduation, just one short year ago. It's so strange how vividly I remember sitting disbelievingly in the auditorium in my cap and gown, almost as if it happened a mere month ago, not 12 months ago.

One thing I've discovered from starting a career is that time goes by in a completely different manner. In school, time was divvied up by semesters and summer/winter breaks, but my first year of work has been relatively milestone-free, so everything seems to blend together. And it only gets faster from here on out, I hear.

The most common question college seniors are asked is: "What are your plans for after graduation?" Now, as a college grad a year out, the most common question I receive is: "What is the one thing you wish you would have known before you graduated?"

I've mulled over that question quite a bit. During my junior and senior years of college, I had very clear goals for my life after college. Namely: get a job. I read career books, I prepped religiously for interviews and I routed my resume through many hands for review. Essentially, I did everything right. Except one thing.

I didn't slow down. I didn't take the time to appreciate my last days in college. I was too focused, I guess you could say. In retrospect, I'm very proud of the proactive work I put into preparing for life after college, but it wouldn't have hurt me in the long run to live it up a little more, too.

Lesson Learned: "So read your books, but stay out late some nights, some nights."

– "Bruised," by Jack's Mannequin

Lesson Learned

Well, isn't that the truth. You can do your research and brainstorm post ideas and blog names for weeks, but the right time never seems to come. Thank goodness for Pinterest, because this quote finally gave my tush the push it needed. Now how about convincing me to workout more often, Pinterest...?

Here we go new blog, and here we go new adventures.

Period. Click. Post.