Kristin van Ogtrop's Blog, page 337

Weekend Browsing: Letters from Lauren

When was the last time you wrote a handwritten letter? Our etiquette expert, Michelle Slatalla, took on the topic of addressing envelopes yesterday, but how often do you actually send a letter?

 

Meet Lauren, a New Yorker who has pledged to handwrite a letter everyday in 2011. She also posts the letters on her website: Letters from Lauren.

 

Take a look:

 

 

Admittedly, she is a bit behind in her posting, but hopefully there will be some new updates soon. And in the meantime, you have 120 some letters to read about. And if you want to recieve a letter from Lauren, you can request that too. 

 

Happy weekend everyone!

 

Building the Museum of Me

As one who is constantly on social media channels such as Facebook - for both work and play - I'll admit to being a little burned out on all the sharing. Thinking of clever things to say, uploading happy photos of my kids, approving friend requests, posting updates, giving items a "thumbs up..."

I'm exhausted and about ready to disconnect.

But just as I found myself wondering what was the point to all this sharing and posting, enter Intel's "Museum of Me," which, with your permission leads you through a virtual museum created from the content within your Facebook Page.

I'll admit, even as jaded as I've become to all things social and digital, there was something heartwarming about the presentation of my friends, photos and updates in this manner. I particularly enjoyed noting how many times the words mom, mommy, and mother appeared in one part of the exhibition.

Using the iShowU application, I was able to capture the video (below), for those who want to see the Museum of Kristin Sundin Brandt. But what I really want to know is - have you built the Museum of You?

 

No More Food Pyramid! The Plate Takes Center Stage

Yesterday's unveiling of the new food guide from the USDA had diet and nutrition circles buzzing. After all, it's the first major overhaul to that familiar, if confusing icon in quite a long time. In recent years, the old pyramid has come under fire for being rather, well...unhelpful!

The vertical striations didn't really help Americans figure out what to eat and were simply hard to decipher. To me, they felt like the test pattern on a TV, only with a little dude running alongside! (That dude was supposed to drive home the idea that physical activity, as well as a healthy diet, is integral for wellness.)

As of yesterday, a circle is the new pyramid. Well, a circle with wedges in it, but a plate-shape nonetheless! On the plate each wedge to represents about how much of each meal should be each food group; the biggest chunk is for vegetables, the next largest stands for fruit, and then whole grains and lean protein round out the orb. On the side is a small oval that stands for a serving of low-fat dairy.

All in all, diet experts are thrilled to see the pyramid junked (it had existed in some form or another, since 1992!) and say that the principles and simplicity of the plate are spot-on. It allows people to literally look down at their plate and evaluate: "How closely does it look like the ideal?"

Learn all about using the new plate at www.choosemyplate.gov/.

What do you think? Will it help you make better diet decisions??

Smart Product: Lens Cap Holder on Kickstarter

If you have a tendency to lose things, this lens cap holder is perfect for you. Next time you're taking photos of your kids, or of all the places you visit on vacation, you can stash your lens cap on a holder on your camera strap.

 

 

Great idea, right? You have the chance to make the Camera Lens Cap Holder available by funding the project on Kickstarter. 

 

Kickstarter is a site where anyone can list a project (from a product they've invented, to a movie they want to make, to a charitable cause they want to support), and ask people to fund that project online. Most projects give the people who help make it possible something in return, for example, if you fund the Camera Lens Cap Holder by donating $15, you'll also get on of the first products made. It's a great way for people with smart ideas to get their projects made. 

 

Take a look at the story behind the Camera Lens Cap Holder:

 

What do you think? Do you need the lens cap holder, or did you find another project on Kickstarter that you'd like to fund?

 

Are the Rules Changing for Addressing Envelopes? Yes!

A Real Simple reader named Milea Joy posted this question on the magazine's Facebook page:

What is the proper way to address a letter/envelope to a couple where the woman has her doctorate and the gentleman does not?

First, I love the fact that you are actually addressing an envelope, Milea. For readers who are unfamiliar with the practice, it's something we used to do fairly often back in the Dark Ages before the Internet, involving things we called "paper" and "ink"— and requiring the use of penmanship skills we painstakingly acquired in elementary school.

Properly executed cursive letters all looked alike. A capital "D" finished with a special, jaunty loop that resembled a beret— and the standardized formality carried over into how you addressed people. All adults had titles. Your parents' friends were "Mr. and Mrs. Larkin." Or, if one of them was a dentist, "Dr. and Mrs. Nilles."

Some things change. I can't remember the last time I addressed an envelope, pressing down to feel the surface of the paper deflate a little, like a comfortable sofa cushion, as it absorbed the weight of a pen.

 

Other things don't change. It's kind to give people a shout-out for their accomplishments.  That's why, if you are writing to a medical doctor and spouse, the medical doctor's name goes first:

Dr. Ann and Mr. John Smith

Or, if they have different surnames:

Dr. Ann Jones and Mr. John Smith

In this case, Milea, the doctor in question is a doctor of philosophy rather than of medicine. In the old days, it wasn't customary to write "Dr." on an envelope addressed to someone who wasn't an MD. But now? If Dr. Jones typically signs her name using her title, I would assume that she is proud of it.

 

If you're not sure, err on the side of congratulating her for surviving all those years of graduate school and write a dissertation, and write "Dr." on the envelope.

(Of course, since second grade I've been a sucker for the flourish and whorls of a capital "D." How often do you get to write one these days?)

 

Update: On Facebook, Real Simple reader Donna Muccilli posted a followup question, asking, "How do you address a formal envelope for same sex partners, marriages, etc. I always hesitate when doing so to the point that I send each of them a separate correspondence -- but it seems odd. Can you help?"

 

Answer: Sure, Donna, this is an easy one. Address the envelope exactly as you would for a male-female couple. I have abandoned the old-fashioned  "Mr. and Mrs. Bill Miller" in favor of the more egalitarian "Mr. Bill and Mrs. Tina Miller."  Following that style, if a same-sex couple has adopted a single last name, address the envelope to "Mr. John and Mr. Jim Smith " or to "Ms. Alice and Ms. Mary Jones." If their surnames differ, write address them by their full names: "Mr. John Smith and Mr. Jim Wilson."

 

Readers, how important is it  to honor old-fashioned conventions of formality when addressing an envelope? What would you do? (And when is the last time you wrote on an "envelope?")

 

(image courtesy of RealSimple.com)

 

Did You Know Music Is an Immune System Booster?

Although it's not the height of cold and flu season, warm weather viruses can be nasty. So keep your immune system healthy, by singing or playing an instrument. 

 

 

Two separate studies have found that singing out loud and playing instruments like the drums, not only improve your mood, but they also increase the concentration of antibodies that protect from invading germs. As if you needed another reason to sing in the shower.

 

Check out more immune system boosters.

 

Creating My Vision Board

Poster board

Old magazines

Ribbon

Fabric

Glue

Markers

This reads like the supply list for one of my son's class projects, but it's actually what I've been collecting around the house for a craft project of my own. Today I'm creating a vision board.

A little back story: For my birthday this year I treated myself and hired a professional life coach. Sure, a weekend at a spa would have been more relaxing, but engaging a coach is something I have always wanted to do. With two business, two kids, a busy household and now a new puppy to train, I've got a lot going on (I know, who doesn't?).

Every day was starting to feel like one missed opportunity after another. I was wasting time chasing dead ends and being busy with things that just didn't have any relevance to my businesses. The pace of my physical rehab following knee surgery was starting to slow down and all meaningful family time was being replaced by the frenzy of youth spring sports season.

Like many busy women I know, I was feeling scattered. What's worse, was the feeling that I lacked purpose and direction. Something had to change.

Working with a life coach can be an amazing experience. I plan to write more about that another time. This week's assignment was to create a vision board for my two businesses. What do I want my businesses to be now and in the future? Can I integrate them somehow? How can I be more deliberate about the kinds of clients I want to work with or the types of accounts I want to be managing?

The idea is to place your vision on paper and look at it every day.

Admittedly, this is not a new or novel concept. In high school I created dozens of collages in the privacy of my bedroom using back issues of Seventeen and Tiger Beat. Oprah's been talking about it for years! And yet I have never taken the time to visually articulate what I want my businesses to be and how they fit into my overall life goals.

So on this beautiful spring day I am closing the computer, turning on the music, pulling out the craft supplies and working on my vision board. I can't wait to see what I create.

Do you have a vision board in your home or office? What's on it?

 

Image: Martha Beck's Dream Board from Oprah.com

A Water-Saving New Use

If you're looking for easy ways to save water around your home. Try this easy trick that involves a soda bottle.

 

 

Simply fill an empty soda bottle with water and place it into the tank of your standard efficiency toilet (it won't help with high efficiency ones). The bottle displaces the water so your tank doesn't use as much when it refills. Meaning you save H2O with every flush.

 

Do you have an eco-friendly new use for an old thing? Tell us in the comments, or submit your new use here.

 

Get Free Donuts on National Donut Day (Yes, It Does Exist)

This Friday, June 3, is National Donut Day—another holiday apparently invented to give us an excuse to binge on our favorite bad-for-you treats. But actually, National Donut Day—celebrated on the first Friday in June--was created in 1938 as a fundraiser for the Salvation Army to commemorate women who served donuts to soldiers during World War I. Sweet, no?

 

Dunkin' Donuts is getting in on the action by offering customers a free donut of their choice with the purchase of a beverage on Friday. You can also score a free donut at Krispy Kreme this Friday, as well as at other local donut shops across the country—check your favorite neighborhood spot to see if they're participating.

 

 

 

Now, here's the dilemma—which flavor will you choose? I admit, I have a special place in my heart for Dunkin' Donuts. It was the only donut shop in the small town where I grew up, and a portable box of Munchkins was practically essential at any school event—birthday, holiday, or celebration (glazed was my favorite, though the chocolate was pretty good too). If a full-sized donut was in order, I generally went for the Bavarian cream—dough filled with a cool, sweet custard center, covered entirely with powdered sugar. A little messy, but worth it. I also loved the French Cruller, with its twisty shape and sugar-glazed coating that was, literally, finger-licking good. What's your favorite donut flavor?

 

And if you want to try your hand at making donuts at home, here's an easy donut recipe that requires very little work (hint: you'll start with a package of refrigerated biscuits).

 

(image: Jose Luis Pelaez/Getty Images)

Are Your Money Beliefs Limiting You Financially?

A new study finds that what you believe about money may hamper your wealth. Brad Klontz, financial psychologist and co-author of "Mind Over Money," and three other researchers examined the "money scripts" of 422 people, and identified three categories of money beliefs that are associated with lower income and lower net worth. The study was published last month in the Journal of Financial Therapy. If you want to boost your net worth, banish these attitudes:

1. Money Avoidance: Money avoidance is a set of beliefs including anti-wealth statements such as, "Rich people are greedy," "Money corrupts people" and "I don't deserve money." Often, such beliefs are rooted in low self-esteem and/ir childhood experiences where money was misused or misunderstood, says Klontz: "Unless we are able to accept that money is simply a tool that can be used for good as well as evil, we may unconsciously sabotage ourselves." 

 2. Money Status: Money status beliefs include "Your self-worth equals your net worth" and "Money is what gives life meaning." When we equate the acquisition of material things with our value or status as human beings, we may take excessive risks to chase a win, or slip into despair and give up when we fail, Klontz notes. Either trap threatens our financial health.

 3. Money Worship: Money worship beliefs are rooted in the idea that more money or more possessions will make a person complete. Money worship beliefs include "More money will make you happier" and "There will never be enough money." This worship of money persists despite the fact that there is no correlation between money and happiness above an income of $75,000 per year.

The belief that more is better can lead to workaholism—sacrificing family and health for the pursuit of money— miserliness, and ironically, lower income and lower net worth, Klontz argues. 

"The belief that more money or possessions will make you happier is a common misperception in the United States and one of the reasons behind the current economic crisis," notes Klontz. "We set arbitrary 'more money' or 'more stuff' targets, believing that those magical numbers and material items will bring us meaning, peace, happiness, security or whatever else we feel is missing in our lives. The problem is that when the target is met, the corresponding payoff never shows up."

Research has found enduring happiness comes from relationships, pursuing one's passions and helping others.

Do you have a money script running in your head? Do you think it has played a role in your net worth?

 

(Also, this will be my last post for a while. You can catch my updates at www.moneyandhappiness.com or follow me on Twitter at MoneyHappiness.)