Five Things
Summer 2018 To-Do List
1. Go for a paddleboat ride
2. Have a bonfire on the beach
3. Go stargaze
4. Head to the water and paddleboard
5. Eat at a rooftop restaurant
6. Make it a priority to watch as many sunsets as possible
7. Get food from food trucks
8. Fall asleep on the beach under the stars
9. Go for a hot air balloon ride
10. Bike a couple new trails
11. Learn how to swim
12. Go to a drive-in movie
13. Take a spontaneous trip someplace I’ve never been
14. Try out a new (to me) ice cream place
15. Check out a new (to me) brunch spot
16. Visit the zoo
17. Try oysters for the first time
18. Play hooky and head to the beach in the middle of the week
19. Volunteer for something in my community
15 Business Tools You Need To Use
1. accounting. You don’t need a fancy accountant to do all your dirty work, track your income, debt, expenses and more with finance software.
2. calendar Management. This is critical, you want something that allows you to block off times each week, gives you reminders, syncs with other calendars as well as can be shared across a wide platform.
3. communication. Communicate with your employees, with your consumers, with your community. If someone works remote video chatting is a great way to go.
4. create good content. I cannot stress how important it is to create good content. Tools online will help you edit to make sure everything is spelled right, grammar is correct and that you’re ready for a public debut.
5. graphics. Your pictures should never be pixilated it makes your company look pathetic. Always have photographs taken at 300 DPI, they can be lowered for the internet, however your raw file should always be large enough.
6. font. When selecting a font for your brand select one that is easy to read, and isn’t filled with a bunch of bells and whistles.
7. email relationships. Separate your email by keywords so you know what messages are the most important to respond to.
8. ecommerce. If you are selling products make sure you have reputable shopping card software.
9. filing sharing. Web-based office software and file sharing is critical at a company. You can put all the files that are needed in one convenient location for everyone to get as needed.
10. master data management tools. These tools are designed to help businesses improve the consistence and quality of their key date assets – such as product data, asset data, customer data, location data and more.
11. health and wellness. These tools are here for your own sanity. There are apps that properly show you how to meditate, give gratitude journal prompts and more.
12. SEO. Find out how your site ranks against other websites and improve upon it. Only you can change the data that you supply, therefore you should spend the time doing keyword research to optimize your website.
13. network. Networking is critical to any brand or business. Visit local events, find like minded individuals that may be interested in what your company has to offer. The more people the meet, the more your brands gets out into the world.
14. social media. You either love it or hate it, and if you want to survive in the current world we live in you better learn to love it. This gives you the ability to allow your business to connect with individuals you may not otherwise have ever spoken to. It also gets your name out there into the world.
Restaurant Review: The Clean Plate
One of my friends and I had a little date night after working out, and since she eats a plant based diet we decided to go to The Clean Plate. This was my first time visiting The Clean Plate and let me tell you I am absolutely addicted. The food is beyond amazing.
She ordered: The BBQ Wrap with tempeh sautéed in house-made apricot BBQ sauce and Daiya cheese with caramelized onion, arugula, avocado and ranch or honey mustard dressing.
I ordered: A.B.L.T – Toasted wheat bread topped with avocado, shiitake “bacon”^, lettuce, tomato and garlic aioli – I asked for avocado sauce instead of the garlic aioli.
Overall the experience was extremely positive. Everyone was so nice, and I cannot wait to go back.
drybar
Did you hear the news? Michigan FINALLY has a drybar, and the Birmingham location officially opened its doors this past Friday. I had the opportunity to check it out and get my first blowout! drybar has a simple philosophy, they focus on one thing and that’s blowouts – let me tell you they do an amazing job.
You start by picking what style hair you like.
Old Fashioned – Old Hollywood waves
Straight Up – Straight with a little bit of body
Manhattan – Sleek and smooth straight hair
Cosmo – Lots of loose curls (what I went with)
Mai–Tai – Beachy hair
Cosmo-Tai – a mix of loose curls and beachy hair
Southern Comfort – Lots of volume
Dirty Martini – Tousled and Textured
Uptini – Updo
Shirley Temple – for girls 10 and under
Amanda cleansed and conditioned my hair with On the Rocks a clarifying charcoal shampoo and condition. Activated charcoal removes impurities and product buildup without stripping or drying your hair out. I Really loved what it did for my hair and I will definitely be going back to buy a bottle.
Originally going in I had my heart set on Mai-Tai, but after talking to Amanda I went with Cosmo. Remember, this was my first ever blowout so when Amanda told me it would last for a couple days I literally thought she was nuts.
Day 1 was Friday, and I had plenty of gorgeous loose curls.
Day 2 I woke up with curls still intact, worked out and they still looked good.
End of day 2 and my Cosmo look was transforming into Mai-Tai like Amanda said it would.
Day 3, gorgeous perfect beach hair. I could not believe the blowout lasted that long.
All and all I absolutely loved the blowout experience and can’t wait to go back for another one. Ladies, be with a man that randomly sends you to get a blowout before a night on the town – they’re so amazing and you will not believe how you look when it’s finished.
Fashion meets Food 