Author Archives: MeliM

No New Friends

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Happy New Year and welcome to 2018! Prepare for a paradigm shift, as you probably haven’t heard this before when we talk about resolutions.  I’m going to talk about the concept of #NoNewFriends.

As we start a new year, there will be many new year’s resolutions. You know the typical ones: work out more, get places early, try new things, blah, blah, blah. We are always in search of something more to acquire, do, or be. But what if what you had was enough? Instead of looking for new friends, what if you dedicated your time to the existing friends who love and cherish you? . . . Read More

Cruise Vacations

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Cruises are great if you want to relax and not worry about planning too much. They are good for groups, as you can go on excursions together, but also have your alone time and do what you want on the boat. If you’ve never been on a cruise, please see my tips below. From planning the cruise to what to expect once you are on the boat. You will be thoroughly prepared for a cruise vacation! . . . Read More

Portugal

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I just got back from a trip to Portugal, and think it’s a great country to visit. Here are some travel tips and  suggestions, if you decide to go there. First, we started in Lisbon, and then went to Porto.

Alfama is no joke with its hills, stairs, and cobblestone. You will need a good pair of flats. I love to walk, but this is walking at a whole new level. I easily did 15,000+ steps a day, just getting around. I found that the souvenoirs were cheaper in Alfama (and you can always haggle) than in Baixa-Chiado or other stores. Don’t let the graffiti scare you. Where I’m from alleys and graffiti mark terrorities I don’t frequent, but here it was the norm. Once you realize that alleys in Alfama were alright, it was a cool experience. You walk by places at night, hear live music, and sit down. By the end of the night you are dancing and singing with strangers. . . . Read More

Movie Review – Beatriz at Dinner

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Beatriz at Dinner (2017) was written by Mike White, and Directed by Miguel Arteta. The main stars were Salma Hayek (Beatriz) and John Lithgow (Doug Strutt). After the watching the trailer, I was super excited to see this movie. You have a Mexican lady that is visiting a wealthy American in her house, at what looked like an invite for dinner. A wealthy visitor immediately clashes with the guest, making disrespectful assumptions about her citizenship and thoughts. I was prepared for amazing dialogue and presentation of both sides on screen. That’s really all I knew about the film going in. Taking the political environment into account, I thought this would be a great discussion piece. . . . Read More

The Semicolon Movement

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I don’t remember where I was or what I was doing, but I glanced over at someone’s wrist a couple years ago and I saw a tattoo of a semicolon. As a writer, I have always loved the semicolon. It allowed for more dramatic pauses or showing incomplete thoughts in characters as they wrestled with what to do. But to permanently mark your body with a punctuation mark? That’s serious! I never saw that person again, and even if I had the chance, I wouldn’t have asked them about their form of expression on their body. So I did what any curious person does after they see something interesting: I googled it. And it was here that I learned about Project Semicolon . . . Read More

Start Your Own Business

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Stepping out of your comfort zone is not only about trying new things that scare you, but also equipping yourself with the tools to make new and exciting decisions. I am a big proponent of sharing knowledge to help others jump out of their fishbowls [when they are ready]. Are you interested in starting your own business? Overwhelmed with where to start? I conversed with Chris Maguire, owner of Tubby Robot, a recently opened ice cream parlor located in Philadelphia’s Manayunk section, and he gave us a nice overview of how that process looks.
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Wow, so you are opening up an ice cream parlor! what spawned that idea?
I’ve loved ice cream my entire life, and I started making my own shortly after receiving an ice cream maker as a wedding gift. Our first batch came out rather underwhelming – it was too icy, poorly flavored, and generally speaking – an utter abomination. Not being satisfied with failure, I stubbornly iterated for months until I was making something I was proud to share with others. Years later, I found myself living in a wonderful neighborhood (Manayunk) with a desire to open a brick and mortar business nearby. At that point, building an ice cream parlor was the only option that made sense. . . . Read More

FREE MONEY!!!

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Did I get your attention? Good. Look, we work, we might go to school, we pay our bills and any debts, and we try to save, but sometimes it’s just not enough. Maybe you want to supplement your income, but you have no time for a second (or third) job. Or maybe you have family members to take care of and can’t leave them for any more time. Maybe you like your current lifestyle, but could use some extra cash to go on a trip or save for retirement or to attend an exotic wedding. Whatever your reason, I think most people can agree, free money is definitely something we can get down with.

I sat down with a friend of mine to learn all about the world of COUPONING. She is a pro and I am really interested in how I can get started.

Here we go . . . Read More

Love is Complicated

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Part of stepping outside your comfort zone is realizing that you don’t know everything. In particular, love is such a dynamic and complicated science that we really can’t predict it. There are so many factors that affect the interaction of two people – factors such as childhood issues, daddy issues, distance, trust, personality, communication, availability, priorities, attractiveness, self-esteem, and faithfulness, to name a few. That doesn’t even take into account where you live and who is available to you, the activities you engage in, and the myriad of factors that influences who we meet and when. So, it’s nice to hear some experts, if anyone can be an expert in love. . . . Read More

Go See Hidden Figures

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Please go and see the film Hidden Figures. I saw it today, and, well, WOW. Such an inspirational film. If you are not familiar, Hidden Figures is the fact-based movie about three African-American woman – Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson – who directly worked on calculations at NASA in order to to get astronaut John Glen to be the first American to orbit the earth. What makes this story phenomenal is that all this is taking place in the 1960s in segregated Virginia. As you can imagine, the women face many subtle and not-so-subtle racism and prejudice because of their skin color. . . . Read More

Go Ahead and Cheat

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Happy New Year!!!
Welcome to 2017. Now before you quote me on the title, let’s give it some context. It’s January 2nd and you may already be behind on a resolution you set out for yourself. Let’s see, the usual resolutions – lose weight, get places on time, be nicer, cook/eat better, read more, blah blah blah. It’s almost the same for everyone that makes resolutions, so for one, be original and think of specific goals that you want for yourself. But secondly, give yourself a break. And that is what I mean by cheat a little. . . . Read More