Cross “Meet Giada de Laurentiis” Off My Bucket List

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Me & Giada at BEA in NYC

I have to share a really fun “bucket list” item with you.  I met Giada de Laurentiis!  Every year I attend Book Expo America (BEA) at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in NYC for work.  It’s a huge gathering of book publishers, publicists, authors, potential authors, librarians and book lovers.  I set up several meetings with publishers and get the skinny on the new books coming out in the next few months so I can set up interviews.  It’s always a fun and enlightening event.  But this year was the best yet!   Read more

List of Ways to Make the Best of Jury Duty

English: New York City - Supreme Court Deutsch...

English: New York City – Supreme Court Deutsch: New York City – Oberstes Gericht (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It happens to all of us at some point in our lives — we all get called for jury duty.  I had to serve last week in New York City and I tried to make the most of the slightly irritating and inconvenient task.  Here’s some ways that you can do the same:

Take yourself out to lunch:  When do you get an entire hour to yourself to eat and relax?  The thing about government agencies is that they are very strict about their break times and their lunches.  They will have you out to lunch at 1pm on the dot.  So take advantage!  Do a little prep work beforehand and find some yummy options near the courthouse where you’re assigned.  Read more

Creating A Realistic Bucket List

Whenever someone tells me that they are new to listmaking — I always suggest making a life list or bucket list first.  You know yourself better than anyone and you know what you like and don’t like.  A bucket list is a collection of your greatest hopes, dreams and goals.  It can include something as extreme as “travel around the world,” or as practical as “learn Spanish.”  But it is important to make your list attainable if you really are serious about crossing off all the items.  For ways to keep your list manageable and realistic — Christine Harding from Wish.co.uk offers this guest post: Read more

Congrats to Astrid: An Amazing To-Do List App

Would you like a personal assistant to help you remember appointments and check things off your to-do list? I know of one who will work for cheap and keep you organized and make sure you hit all your deadlines. Her name is Astrid. And I’d like to offer my congratulations since the company was just sold to Yahoo.  

Who is Astrid?

Astrid is an adorable little octopus and one of my favorite to-do list apps for iPhone or Android.  If you don’t have one of those devices you can also access this productivity tool by going to Astrid.com.

Astrid will keep all of your tasks organized and remind you of what you need to do with motivational and encouraging nudges like “How about it? Ready tiger?”  You can also rename all of your lists and maintain them however you like — set reminders or not, give your tasks due dates or not. It’s up to you. Read more

Fill Your To-Do List With Fun

430213_10152769872390193_743900261_nThe “real” to-do list in this photo inspired me and I wanted to share it with you.  Check it out — it lists things that you should really have on your to-do list — like:

  • Sing
  • Smile at strangers
  • Eat ice cream 
  • Laugh 

I’m all for a list that looks like this one!  It’s much more fun than one goes on and on about responsibilities and tasks. But both are equally important.  So how about for every task related to-do you add to your list — you also add a fun one?  I’m going to try it today.