Being a bird on the beach can’t be a bad way to live

Halloween at the Beach

New England – 70 one day; 45 the next. Good weather for trick or treating!

New England – 70 one day; 45 the next. Good weather for trick or treating!

Winterizing the Boat – Summer’s Definitely Gone

My Whrrl story in pictures – we took our boat out one last time to move it to a new harbor for the winter. Very sad – the season was so short with all the rain we had; we barely got to use the ole’ girl this summer. Here’s hoping for a fast New England Winter and a very warm spring…

More stories at Green Harbor Marina

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In 15 Minutes for Just $15 – Help Change Someone’s Life and Beat Cancer

This is a repeat from my work blog but the subject matter is important so I’m reposting here as well. I hope you’ll consider helping. If you’re having a bad day, helping someone else who is facing much bigger challenges and stresses can truly help. Help them, help yourself – it’s a win-win. Karen, this is for you.

National Breast Cancer Awareness month is nearing an end. We’re trying to help raise awareness for the thousands of women who have faced this challenge – and are fighting much bigger challenges than anything a day at work can throw our way. In particular, we’d like to call out two of our friends and their efforts to raise money to directly help women facing this relentless disease: Jeanne Fitzmaurice of Design Her Gals and the Gal to Gal Foundation and Alicia Staley of The Staley Foundation.

Both of these amazing women are trying to reach a certain goal this month (today, in Alicia’s case) to help others. Both have been touched by cancer and are inspirational women who remind us to keep going, never give up and to support each other. Will you please help our efforts to do so by taking just 15 minutes and $15 (skip two of those Starbuck’s lattes this week, perhaps?) today to help them reach their goals?

Alicia Staley, the Staley Foundation

Alicia’s birthday is today and her wish is to raise $1,000 in 24 hours for the Staley Foundation – money raised during her birthday wish challenge will be used to purchase books, journals, and JILLIES to include in new patient packs:

• $10 donation = a journal for patients in a support group!
• $20 donation = books for patients preparing for surgery!
• $45 donation = a brand new JILLIES garment for patients having radiation or chemo!

The Staley Foundation acts on its belief that cancer survivors need a strong fundamental base of education, advocacy, and assistance to persevere in their cancer battle and beyond to live their best lives. Alicia should know – she’s a three-time cancer survivor (read her amazing story here). She founded the Staley Foundation in 2007, a non-profit charitable organization dedicated to enriching the lives of people touched by cancer, including survivors, their families, and caregivers. The Staley Foundation fulfills its mission through cancer awareness education, survivorship education, community outreach initiatives, advocacy development, and patient assistance programs. You can help Alicia by donating, here.

Jeanne Fitzmaurice, Gal to Gal Foundation

Jeanne is in her third year of the Gal to Gal Virtual Walk – a fun, easy-to-join virtual walk through a different city each day, to help raise funds to grant wishes for stage IV breast cancer patients. Many organizations are dedicated to helping cancer patients during the early stages of diagnosis, but few are focused on stage IV – Gal to Gal is focused on helping women in this stage to maintain their dignity while receiving treatment through the progression of the disease. Walkers can choose who to “walk” with others – from celebrities like Larry King, Molly Sims and Kristin Chenoweth, to everyday neighbors and friends. You can create teams and invite others to join as well.

This year’s walk honors Dorit Shapiro, past President of the Gal to Gal Foundation, who lost her brave battle to Stage IV last October at age 38. You can listen to Dorit’s own story – in her own words – in the video below. Dorit spoke about last year’s Gal to Gal walk, just one week before her passing. We hope it will inspire you to spend just $5.00 to help Jeanne and her team reach this year’s goal of $250,000 (a figure that was Dorit’s personal hope for this year). You can create an avatar and search for the PerkettPR team to “walk” with us, or you can choose to simply just donate.

Thanks for reading, for donating and for your support through posting these efforts on Twitter, Facebook, your own blog and more. Not for us, but for the patients.

The “Key” Won’t Work – and I got there first

The kid just cracks me up… On vacation RP and JP constantly fought over who could get to our hotel door first, and who got to open it with the key… unfortunately, JP didn’t quite get the key part… take notice of what they key says. And enjoy the song and dance.

done

Celebrities: Maybe They Really *Are* Just Like Us!

A few days ago a big hubaloo was caused on Twitter when @mrskutcher signed up – aka Demi Moore. Yes folks, it really does seem to be her, as indicated in several news stories yesterday.

Why is the media writing on the fact that Demi Moore and her husband Ashton Kutcher – aka @aplusk on Twitter – signed up on this popular micro blogging service? Well your guess is as good as mine. But I found it really interesting that Mrs. Kutcher used it to turn the tides on the media yesterday with this Tweet and Twitpic:

Demi Moore's Twitter Page

Alleged paparazzi

This is interesting in light of the tech and business industry chatter about social services and communities, such as Twitter, being a “traditional media killer.” Do celebrities have the power to make that possible for Hollywood gossip rags as well? Imagine if more celebrities shared their own photos and comments in this manner – seeing a glimpse of how they really live would be way better than US Weekly’s interpretation of their lives. And with no one to buy those magazines because we’re all getting “front row seats” on Twitter…well…? It’s a big dream but not impossible.

All this begs the question, without all the glitz and Photoshop capabilities, would celebrities really embrace the opportunity to end the paparazzi frenzy?

Celebs on Twitter include many other musicians, actors, reality TV stars and blonde socialites – from Solange Knowles to Jerry Rice to Lauren Conrad and her “Hills” crew.  Even Perez Hilton has joined – to keep an even closer eye on his subjects, perhaps.

If You Had Three Other Lives to Live…

… what would they be? I asked this question on Twitter today and got some great responses. You can learn a lot about people with this question (if you’re paying attention…)

My initial answer? Fashion designer, author, vet. I’d also like to add professional surfer, (good) photographer and some kind of mix of Sarah Austin (POP 17) and Mike Arrington (TechCrunch) – yes, seriously. (Which would cover things like world traveler and pseudo-celeb).

Too bad we can’t have more than one life, eh? What would yours be? And what’s stopping you?

Michelle Obama’s Inaugural Outfits

There was a lot of chatter about Michelle Obama’s outfits yesterday, as expected. Personally I loved the inaugural dress and matching overcoat designed by Isabel Toledo. I thought the lemongrass color was gorgeous on her, the texture looked season-appropriate and the neckline was elegant and beautiful. And I absolutely adored the coordinating J. Crew green gloves and Jimmy Choo green patent pumps. It takes a special and confident woman to pull that off.

Unfortunately, I didn’t feel the same about her ball gown, designed by Jason Wu, that evening. Although I loved the crystals and appliques, I didn’t think the cut was very flattering on top or to her waist. Although, after what was certainly a long day, I’m sure she was grateful for the free-flowing design. All in all, she looked beautiful and elegant, yet approachable.

What did you think?

Latest Fashion Obsession

Carolee Jewelry has caught my eye.  Now I just need somewhere to wear it! Too much for a business meeting?!

In all seriousness, pairing these vintage-inspired pieces with more casual clothes makes a unique statement. They could make a brown paper bag look classy.

Seven Things Some People Don’t Know About Me

I was tapped by fellow This Mommy Gig blogger, Laura Thomas, to write a post on Seven Things You Don’t Know About Me. It sounds easy but to be honest, it’s hard to find seven things that no one knows about me – or to find seven that I’d actually want to share publicly! It also feels a bit strange – I could barely come up with seven. Perhaps I need to get some new hobbies!

1)   I grew up in three different states: Illinois, Wyoming and Michigan. Moving as a kid is hard – kids are mean! But I managed to make many friends and learned a lot about the psychology of people. The experiences moving made me a stronger, more intuitive person.

2)    Everything I have I owe to hard work: While I own my own company now, I’ve worked extremely hard for everything I have. I don’t come from money – I started working at the age of 10 (first job: newspaper delivery for The Wyoming State Journal in Lander, Wyo.); worked at McDonald’s throughout high school (yes, McDonald’s!); held three jobs in college (retail clerk at a video store, a retail clothing store and a grocery store) while taking a full load of classes and running my University’s newspaper as Editor in Chief; and moved to Boston with a bank balance of about $200.00. When I went out on my own to start PerkettPR, I had less than $500 in the bank – and I bootstrapped the company (no loans!).

3)    My dream job: a writer or stylist, ala Rachel Zoe

4)    I’m a record holder: I kind of accidentally discovered that I could run during the middle of a race in junior high. I started passing everyone – to my surprise – and thought, “holy cow, I am good at something!” I went to the state championships my freshman year and set new school records in the 800 meter run and 3200 meter relay. When I first took my now-husband to my hometown, we visited my high school – and my name was still up in the gymnasium as record holder.

5)    I recently finished my first marathon - in Dublin, Ireland.

6) I’m an obsessive list maker. I thank my father, who always had yellow (silent, guilt-ridden) legal pads of “To Dos” sitting around the house. My husband finds them everywhere – the kitchen, the bathroom, my nightstand, the car.

7) Random talents include: singing (I sang in two groups in college, including a women’s accepella group), pottery (more like an interest than a talent) and horseback riding (I grew up in Wyoming and my folks were avid endurance racers – a few of which I tried myself – 50 miles on a horse!).