On Getting And Maintaining A Manicure

A few weeks ago, I had a friend visiting for the week. The last day of his visit, Phil told me he had a surprise for me. “Don’t make any plans for 3 o’clock today.” he said cryptically. Needless to say, I was pretty curious.

When we pulled up to the Bar Harbor Spa, I got excited. Clearly I was in for a treat, and something I would never buy myself in a million years.

“We’re getting manicures.” he said. Fun!

What I didn’t expect was for people to actually notice it, and treat me differently.

Nicole’s Quest To Find A Seamstress Or Why Everyone Should Have A Website

The dress that launched a bunch of phone calls. I love Ebay.It all started when I ordered this fabulous silk designer dress on eBay. Normally completely out of my price range, I got it for $40. I figured if it didn’t fit, I could have it altered.

The dress was even more beautiful in person but since I am not a size 8 Anne Klein dress form, it needed alterations to fit. Normally I attempt this sort of thing myself but the potential for disaster on silk made me decide that maybe I should call in an expert. And so my search began.

A Google search yielded some places in Bangor (an hour away) and a dry cleaner in Ellsworth (30 minutes away). I know that the dry cleaner subcontracts this kind of work out (I had something repaired there before) and it would take a few weeks turnaround to get it back. Was there no one in my entire county who could do this?

I checked the Yellow Pages. Nothing. I even tried to convince a friend to help me do it for money. She wasn’t confident enough to attempt silk but did give me the number of a local sewing store. I called them (since their owner once told me she barely checks her email) and was given a phone number to Acadia Sewing.

Why Ending Effective Educational Programs Makes Terrible Economic Sense

Recently, a local school district has closed off a computer technology program open to high school students. Their reasons cited were low enrollment. My old boss Chris wrote an excellent letter about his experience with the program in the local paper. It got me thinking, beyond the impact of one individual student, how do these programs effect the world beyond the classroom?

Schools exist to make productive members of society. And when you look into the data, a lot of these technical programs end up being pretty effective. They increase graduation rates and beyond that, students who go through these programs earn more money, have lower unemployment, and lower rates of substance abuse.

So subjectively, these programs are fantastic. But what is their actual return on investment, beyond preventing bad things from happening to teenagers?

ROI on a student enrolled in a technical program in high school. Not bad. Actually pretty darn great!

Want Something? Just Ask!

Here's me sailing! Yeehaw!

So I have a business acquaintance who happens to have a sailboat. I’ve wanted to go on a boat all summer so a few weeks ago, I felt bold and messaged him on Facebook. I told him I’d wanted to go on a boat all summer and asked if he’d mind taking me sailing sometime. I offered to bring lunch and/or snacks and otherwise earn my keep.

He said sure and asked me when my next day off was.

Good and Cheap Kale

One of my readers recently asked me why I haven’t written about food lately. Good question.

Truth is, I’ve been eating like a confirmed bachelor. I’ve been eating lots of quick foods, skipping breakfast in favor of coffee, and once even caught myself eating a jumbo marshmallow while standing by the kitchen sink. What is going on here?

I love food, and I love to eat healthy but I got busy and fell off the wagon as of late. As a result, I’ve been cooking way less and foraging way more. Eating small amounts and exercising is keeping me trim but I am not liking this lifestyle. So not me!

It’s definitely back on the eating-real-meals bandwagon for me and I couldn’t think of a better way to get back into it than kale.

Kale is good for you and tasty... and pretty inexpensive. Really!

Getting Healthier And Playing Tourist Via Really Long Bike Rides

I have this habit of offering to take family portraits. After taking a photo of a man and his family, he offered to do the same for me. The sculpture behind me is called 'Cleat' and it's a piece of public art in Winter Harbor. The most clever thing I could think of to do apparently was gesture to it.

Lately, I’ve been going on some really long bike rides. Maybe not long for a cyclist but definitely long for the average person, which is what I consider myself, athleticwise anyway.

I’ve been training for a 50 mile ‘race’ I’ll be doing this coming Sunday. The Tour de la Vallée is held every year in my hometown and others in the Saint John Valley to raise money for the Guy Paradis Memorial Cancer Fund.

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