Flipboard: A Must-Have App

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Flipboard

Flipboard (Photo credit: DavidErickson)

Magazine reading is my guilty little pleasure.  I absolutely love it.  Flipping through the pages and looking at all the photos and blurbs makes me so happy.  Really — it’s the little things in life 🙂

Anyway — I was talking with a few people during my virtual “Lists & Libations” meetup and one of the women mentioned that she’d love to have one place to read all her news, blogs and favorite sites daily.  I told her about Flipboard and realized I’ve never mentioned it here on this blog.  It’s my #1 absolutely most favorite app of all time because it’s just like reading a magazine — except you pick the content.

As a news junkie — I like to see what’s going on in the world when I drink my green tea in the morning but I don’t have much time to do it.  With Flipboard you can choose to include different feeds or channels depending on your interests.  I have a feed set up for my Facebook page, Twitter page, Oprah’s website, this blog, and a bunch of news sites.  And as I sip — I flip.

Flipboard is available for iPhone and Android but I really love the iPad version best because it feels like a real magazine.  It’s a much easier way to scan through Twitter because you can see all the photos that people post instead of having to click on a link.  Everything is laid out perfectly and makes it fun and quick to zip through all your feeds.

Whatever your interest you can find a feed for it — travel, style, cooking, etc. And the beautiful design has won this app all sorts of accolades.  I should also mention that Flipboard just hit a milestone — 20 million users!  Plus they just added video as a feature. Whoa.  So if you haven’t used it already — definitely put Flipboard on your must-have app list!

 

Join My Virtual Meetup

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L is for Lists

L is for Lists (Photo credit: Swiv)

Since starting my Meetup group Lists & Libations in NYC I’ve gotten a lot of requests to organize a virtual Meetup.  So I’m hosting one tonight for all the people who aren’t in NYC or can’t make our in-person Meetups.

There are 3 spots left in our Google+ Hangout tonight.  If you’re interested in tonight’s theme: “Common List-Making Mistakes,” please signup and join us!

If there’s interest — I’d be happy to host more of these virtual Meetups so we can chat face to face!  Hope to see you tonight.

Checklist to Prepare for Hurricane Isaac

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Isaac has his eye on the Gulf states and residents are bracing for the storm.

Angie Hicks, founder of customer review site, Angie’s List gave me these tips to get your home and family ready for the storm.

What to do ahead of time:

1. Gather Your Documents – Get your insurance documents together and put them in a safe place – a place you’ll remember!

2, Program Your Phone – Have your insurance agent’s phone number stored in your phone so you can access it easily.

3. Know your Coverage – Understand what is covered on your homeowner’s insurance policy and what is not.

4. Snap Some Photos – Take photos of your home and it’s contents, be sure to include all electronics and other expensive items. This will assist you if you need to make a claim on your contents insurance.

Here are a few checklists that will help you as the Hurricane approaches:

Preparing for a Hurricane by FEMA

Securing Your Home for a Hurricane by National Hurricane Center

Emergency Plan Checklist by GetButtonedUp.com

Hurricane Preparedness Checklist by GetButtonedUp.com

Be safe and smart in the storm!

 

Keeping an Integrity List

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integrity

integrity (Photo credit: glsims99)

How many times have you said any of the following:

  • We should catch up
  • Let’s go out for drinks
  • Oh – I’ll send you his contact info
  • I’ll reach out and let you know what she says
  • We will definitely celebrate together soon

…and then never actually did it? Yep – me too. It happens – it doesn’t mean you’re a bad person it just means that you should be more honest with yourself and more careful with your words.

I’ve found a new type of list thanks to my Lists & Libations group – it’s called an integrity list. One of the members, Al, told me all about how he uses them. Basically it’s a list of all the things that you say you are going to do so you hold yourself accountable for those actions. Things like calling a friend or meeting up with a co-worker – you say you will do them — but will you ever actually do them? If you keep an integrity list you will be more mindful of the promises you make.

Amazing concept right? I thought so too.

I think people throw around these terms and phrases because they are space fillers during awkward moments.  But often times they are just baseless. Al says one of the worst things you can do is go against your word.  What if the person you promised was really counting on going to dinner or getting that contact and you flaked out on them? That’s not how you want to be perceived. I’m going to start my own integrity list right now and make sure that I choose my words wisely from now on. You should too!

A List for Meeting New People

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Handshake

Handshake (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I’m a naturally curious person. I love asking questions and doing research, which is probably why I googled “Hatfields and McCoys” for over an hour the other day after watching the History Channel special about them.  It’s a great mini-series by the way.

Anyway — it’s no wonder I picked journalism as a career — because I always want to know more.  This is how I approach meeting new people as well. Read more