Something’s coming
May 9th, 2010

West Side Story, probably somewhere on the top of my most seen movies ever, starts with “Could be! Who knows? There’s something due any day; I will know right away, Soon as it shows.” Funny how when that feeling hit me, not that long ago, I did not think of the song. I just kept thinking “Something’s going to happen…” and to paraphrase the song again “Could it be? Yes, it could. Something’s coming, something good…” And it did.

A few weeks ago, some friends and I were discussing what I would call “uncontrolled brain powers”… Those things that happen, that might have a scientific explanation, but that we’d rather see as “paranormal activity”… maybe simply because it makes our boring human lives more exciting. What I call “Premonition” [a.k.a. Gut Feeling]  is one of them; one that I experienced in several instances. So I did a little research and found this interesting statement in Wikipedia: “…precognition would violate the principle that an effect cannot occur before its cause.” And somehow with emerging spiritual or self-help movements like The Secret and other “Law of attraction“-type theories, we’re encouraged to break the scientific principle… Which, I have to confess, is more than tempting.

Is a premonition an unconscious way of putting a desire out to the universe? Can we assume that wanting something so much that we start thinking of it as something that will actually happen is enough to make it happen? Or are we just intoxicated with our own desires to the point of finding a way, any way, to make them happen, and then call it premonition?

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Falling in and falling out
April 4th, 2010

Human beings are emotional creatures. Aren’t they? All I see lately, around me, are stories of falling in and falling out (of love.) Side-effect of the Spring weather some will say. Sign of times maybe as well.

When I look at my grand-parents, I see two people whom one day fell in love. And that love never ended. Not even when my grand’pa passed away a few years ago. When I talk with my grand-mother, I hear the story of a love that grew stronger every day, that nourished itself from the obstacles life threw at them, that was bigger than any love-story you can see in movies. “They lived happily ever after…” Or almost.

When I look at my parents, I see a love that stayed, despite the differences, despite the opposite personalities. I see two people who learned to make sacrifices for something greater: their couple, their family; and that were able to find balance and happiness.

When I look at my sister, I see a young couple that builds a story on common grounds. I see two people who are friends as much as they’re lovers.

When I look at my friends, I see a wide variety of things. From the unbelievable love-story that started with a dream and that is now the strongest weapon against cancer, to upcoming weddings, to burgeoning relationships… to falling outs. Lots of falling outs. And it makes me wonder. When do we start falling out of love? Is there still a place in our world for “happily ever after”?

Have we become too selfish to allow ourselves to believe in fairy tales?

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Make me happy!
March 14th, 2010

What would a girl NOT DO to be happy… Not that I’m unhappy at all, I’m doing pretty decently actually, but as a good old human being, I always could be happier!

Well, the pursuit of happiness now has its own website! We all heard of the “Inspiration boards”, “Personal Commandments”, “Lists”… it seems that every month someone is coming up with a new way to measure, track, work toward our happiness… Gretchen Rubin compiled 8 tools into one website and called it “The Happiness Project Toolbox“. Of course, I had to try.

So far I’m only using the “Personal Commandment” (i.e. I will control my Time Urgency Impatience), and the “Resolutions” which you can conveniently break into different steps… Wonderful. This week, I’ve been working at starting my days with time for myself instead of my work (sorry, clients, if you read me, no more answering your emails at 6:30 AM) and I’m planning on adding more resolutions for the weeks to come.

If your brain is scattered, like mine, and taking over yet another project sounds like the opposite of happiness, this website might help, by streamlining everything in one place. On Gretchen’s Happiness Manifesto, I found this: “One of the best ways to make yourself happy is to make other people happy; one of the best ways to make other people happy is to be happy yourself.” Quite the motivation here…

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First times | Wedding Shower
March 7th, 2010

I have been in the United States for over 6-years now… I have been to several weddings, and even recently a funeral; the only baby shower I attended was thrown by a French girl and was more a of party than a traditional girly thing and I had never been to a wedding shower… until today.

My friend Marialana is getting married in May, and will probably have a more traditional wedding than any of my other friend had, or would have… And the festivities started with the Wedding Shower (a.k.a Bridal Shower).

When I received the invitation a few weeks ago I had to do a little research, I didn’t want to break the etiquette (which I ended-up doing inadvertently). A few things to know:

The wedding shower is a surprise. However it seems to me that if you’re getting married, you should, at least, expect it to happen…

The wedding shower is all about gifts. I gasped when I got into the room and saw the amounts of gifts sitting on the floor. Mine was not there (of course), because it got shipped directly to Marialana’s address… You would think that I know how to work an on-line wedding list… and you would be wrong.

The wedding shower will feed you. Or maybe that’s because it was an Italian family throwing it, and when you deal with Italian families you should always expect to be fed… Kudos to the Eggplant Parmegian

The wedding shower is long. Even if punctuated with cutesy little games, the “presents opening ceremony” can compete with the Academy Awards in lengthiness… Odd actually that they’re happening on the same day…

The wedding shower won’t let you leave empty-handed. Yeah… I got a gift too!!! By the way, the sugar-coated almonds in the white pouch with the little roses are the exact same that would be given in my (Italian) family. A little pinch in my heart here.

All in all, it was good to (barely) see Marialana, and to spend some time with girlfriends that I don’t see often enough. But really, we shouldn’t wait for one of us to get married to see each other… Although, now that I understand better the tradition, I’m up for more, and without “faux-pas” this time. Who’s next?

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I love
February 14th, 2010

I love I love the post from Ree Drummond on her blog The Pioneer Woman and it inspired me, on that over-marketed Valentine’s Day to celebrate as well the things that I love (I’m keeping the people separate from this list).

I encourage you to do the same and spread another kind of love: the love for life. If you don’t have a blog, use the comment section below to share the things that you love.

I love (list is non-exhaustive):

  • Peanut Butter.
  • Dancing.
  • Cinnamon.
  • Flying (airplanes that is).
  • Facebook.
  • Writing.
  • The smell of fresh coffee.
  • Clothes that make me feel beautiful and stylish.
  • Reading in bed.
  • New York, Savannah & Barcelona.
  • The first nights of Spring when you can feel in the air that Winter is gone for good.
  • Long conversations about abstract subjects.
  • Randomly running into people from my past.
  • Driving convertible cars.
  • Marc Levy and Rene Barjavel’s books

Photo Credit: CreateSk8

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Snow Storm | A kitchen adventure
February 7th, 2010

I had a feeling all week that I would miss my chance to fill up my fridge before the snow storm… and running around all day Thursday and Friday, I did. When I woke-up Saturday to the storm I knew I would have to be creative in the kitchen for the next 24-hour.

First: inventory. What I miss are the essentials: bread, eggs, meat. On the veggie side, pretty poor too: an eggplant, a couple clementines and the rest of a carton of black bean soup… Dairies: Vanilla yogurt and maybe a cup of milk. For a moment I felt hopeless.

Breakfast turns out better than expected. I dug out a box of No Pudge Fudge Brownie mix from Trade Joe’s and made a chocolate feast. Enough to revive my spirit and accompany a couch/blanket moment with a good movie.

I considered my eggplant for a while. It was originally bought with the idea of making my mother’s breaded & fried eggplants, comfort food by definition to me, little slices of heaven. But without eggs, how can I get the crumbs to stick? My “ta-da” moment was when I found a jar of marinara sauce…

Once the eggplant sliced (1/2 inch max, you want them to cook fast), I dug them in the marinara, and then bread crumbs and popped them in the pan. The result? Good enough to satisfy my hunger and my craving for fried comfort food on a snowy day. However, the taste of the marinara overpowered quite a bit the meaty flavor of the eggplant. The recipe still needs a little work, I’ll have to think about it. Suggestions welcomed!!!

A few slices for lunch and a few more for dinner with the black bean soup, and I was a happy woman… Creative cooking was fun, but I’m on a mission to hit the grocery store before the storm hits again sometime next week.

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Sunday Project | Wardrobe Makeover
January 24th, 2010

It has been one of those days when I wake-up with enough energy to move mountains… and I need to get myself a nice big project to take over. Today could have been Spring Cleaning… however, since it’s only January, I turned it into “Wardrobe Makeover”.

Step 1: Get it all out!

All my clothing comes out the multiple closets in my apartment and take place along my canopy bed. I knew this thing would be useful at some point…

Articles of clothing are then separated by categories: skirts, pants, tees, tops, sweaters…

The pieces that have not been worn recently are going through try-outs and the jury (me, myself and I) is bound to make a decision: keeper or giver. To be honest, most of what made the give-away bags are clothes that I haven’t worn in years, or that are not fitting anymore (too loose, too tight, too long, too short…), or that are ripped or stained, which makes me wonder why they are still in my closet.

Shoes are no exceptions… I have to confess, it hurt a little to have to say goodbye to my black boots… but there’s no possible salvation and it’s time to move on and find another pair that will be as awesome, if not even more. Meanwhile, I also fall-back in love with shoes I haven’t worn in a very long time… Gives me a motivation to create opportunities to wear them again!

If my collection of bags is also going through the process, most of it made it back immediately to its shelf. I  might not have too hard of a time separating from clothing items, but I can’t help it, I’m a sucker for shoes and bags… they stay!

Step 2: Put it all back in

Nicely organized, isn’t it… But it feels weird that half of my closet is empty now…

Step 3: Shopping time!

Anyone interested?

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Not For Sale
January 10th, 2010

This week I had one of the toughest internal debate in a very long time. I was faced with a proposal that I would summarize as: “I’m going to change everything that you know and that you like, I’m going to order you to follow blindly what I’m doing, and I’m going to ask you to give up things that you value a lot and that makes you who you are. In exchange I’m going to help you make a lot of money. If you’re not interested, here’s the door.” That’s basically how things were presented to me.

Of course, being who I am, my first reaction was rejection: no amount of money in the world would buy my freedom, my self-thinking, my soul. In addition to that, the person who initiated this wind of change was someone I trusted, respected and loved; someone I considered a close friend.

Over the course of the week, things went from bad to worse. And every morning I woke-up with a new thought. It made for pretty heavy awakening moments:

  • Monday: Excitement – something new was about to happen
  • Tuesday: Motivation – change is good, new options, new opportunities, new directions…
  • Wednesday: Belief – surrounding atmosphere starts to crackle but I still believe this is good, and stand by my position
  • Thursday: Discomfort - starting to witness things that I don’t feel comfortable with: abusive behaviors, disrespect, rejection to attempts of communication. When the question becomes “Why should I do that?” and the answer is “Because I say so…”
  • Friday: Rejection – I know the confrontation is coming and I’m not ready to compromise. I’m not for sale.
  • Saturday: Deception – How can someone I loved and respected so much can become a total stranger. It’s Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. Dollars signs are floating in the air and I’m at loss.
  • Sunday: Understanding – Communication opened-up with the initiator of that change (whom stayed very quiet as things were unfolding all week long) and I finally get to see where that person comes from. Playing the week over and over in my head, I finally come to realize what went wrong on Friday and how things could have been salvaged.

A good sales person identifies it’s prospect. And selling a new environment is nothing else but selling. Here’s how the conversation went and how it could have gone:

  • Consultant: I need you to change everything you know, to adapt to my beliefs and to stick to a plan that I’m putting together. You’re going to have to give yourself 100% in that and I don’t see how you can manage both your universes. I think you will need to drop one of them.
  • LittleAudrey: I don’t know if I can do that. Having those two universes is what’s balancing me, what’s making me happy.
  • C: But you’re going to make a lot more money if you do what I say
  • LA: Money is not my priority, life balance and happiness are. Money is not my carrot.
  • C: Then I’m sorry to say, but I don’t need you because money IS my priority as well as your boss/friend’s who hired me.
  • LA: …

(rewind last two “sentences” – new answer that would have make all the difference…)

  • C: I understand. Your boss/friend is in a place right now where she needs all the support from her friends she can get. You’ve been working together for 2 years. You’ve known each other for longer than that. Are you going to be there for her and help her achieve what she’s trying to accomplish?
  • LA: Let’s talk about what you need from me and let’s figure out something that will work for both of us.
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10 things I loved about 2009
December 31st, 2009

All I see, all over Facebook statuses is “Good ridance 2009, welcome 2010″… well, maybe it was not a perfect year for most of us, but at the same time, it’s been a fun ride at times and I thought it would only be fair to compile the 10 things I loved about 2009. In random order…

1. My new nephew, Maxence, was born on September 21… new addition to the Julienne-Branda family.

2. Thanks to Facebook, I reconnected with my friend Sally, over 15 years later; and visited her and her family.

3. I became a better dancer, a better teacher, I choreographed, performed, and found a dance-partner.

4. I lived my childhood dream and became a movie critic for a few month.

5. I made hilarious memories with friends: zip-lining, Poconos, Alissa’s birthday…

6. I got involved in amazing projects such as Philadelphia Fashion Week or Dancing with the Philadelphia Stars.

7. I finally made it to Coney Island.

8. I more than doubled the income of Raison d’Etre.

9. I created Oh Little Audrey Says.

10. I loved, got my heart broken, and still found the strength to keep on loving.

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The mysteries of productivity | Step 1: Planning
November 29th, 2009

The definition of productivity can be quite simple: achieve the maximum in the minimum amount of time. But in a day filled with 2 jobs (one of each being running my own business), a relationship, friends, family, personal care, hobbies… how do you fit productivity? And when does it become more important than that? When going grocery shopping starts feeling like procrastination, do you loose the boundaries of your personal life to the profit of your professional life? Or are they all just the same?

I read blogs, articles, books… Productivity is key. But productivity needs work. I decided to put myself through a test: follow the rules of productivity and see how far that gets me. There are tips and “how to” all over the internet… so I selected a few of them and I’ll try to apply them, one at a time. Readers are my witness and will hear about the ups and down of productive me!

Most of the self-help out there agree, the first step to productivity is planning. I already consider myself a decently organized person, and I always felt like planning too much would take away from life’s best spontaneous moments… Unless you start planning time for unplanned things… but that sounds sort of wacko, doesn’t it? But let’s be positive here… planning is certainly a good thing at least for the workload:

  • Planning this week’s client and networking appointments: checked
  • Planning this week’s dance lessons and training: checked
  • Planning some office time to work on my client projects: checked
  • Planning some time for working out and taking care of myself: checked

planningWhat’s left? It seems not much. But when I look at my week, I see a couple free nights to spend time with my man or my friends, and I see a weekend that is not loaded with computer time, but open for a lot of unplanned fun.

Now the next challenge will be to plan my “Office time”. If I read correctly the idea is to start the day by making a list of 1 to 3 goals to achieve that day. Sounds do-able… Let’s try to apply that to my upcoming week and see what the result is.

If you have any tips of your own and productivity secrets that you’re willing to share, please feel free to put them in the comment section. Who knows, I might take your word for it and make it my next productivity step.

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