LupRocks Gossip

What are Friends For?

I read an article in New York Magazine yesterday announcing the first non-baseball event at the historic new Yankees stadium, a "Historic Night of Hope" prayer service led by the prosperity preacher Joel Osteen.  While I definitely don't subscribe to any kind of evangelical teachings, his basic message to stay positive, even when times are really tough,  is a powerful one.  But how do we do that, outside of accepting Jesus as your Lord and personal savior (which is an entirely personal choice, in my opinion)?  We hear tales of economic woe, not just on the news, but from our close friends, pretty much every hour on the hour, and our own lives threaten to turn us into Debbie Downers and Bummer Bobs, not to mention the fact that the grayest winter in memory seems to keep dragging on, so how do we keep up the kind of positive energy that might actually impact our lives in a positive way? 

Already, I've noticed a desire in my own circle of friends to spend less time out at bars and restaurants, and more time in-doors over home-made dinners, just visiting and enjoying one another's company.  And while I didn't think it was possible to spend even more time with my massive family, as it turns out, it is possible.  In fact, these intimate gatherings with friends and family are pretty much the only thing I enjoy doing in my free time these days. 

Just this morning, my sister sent me an article in the New York Times highlighting several scientific studies on the positive effects of friends and close relationships and it occurred to me, maybe I'm on to something.  Maybe it's not just the immediate satisfaction I get from spending time with my friends and family that is driving me, maybe these people I surround myself with are literally medicine, causing me to keep a positive outlook that will eventually draw a lot of positive things into my life?  Something to think about, I guess....now if you'll excuse me, I want to finish the friendship bracelets I'm working on, Victoria and Jessica and Lisa are going to love them!

Viva la France!

After two weeks in France it's a little tough to get back to the grind.  If not for the legally binding need to write a big check by tomorrow and my vanity-driven desire to hit the gym and work off the extra lbs I put on (smelly cheese and foie gras for lunch?  Mais oui s'il vous plais!), I may never have come back!  So now that I am back....while the New York Times was busy reporting on the very region I was visiting and pirates were running rampant (pirates?  really??), I was enjoying both the fashion of Paris and the more fashionable charms of country living.  In the hopes that I can help take your mind off taxes and channel a bit of my vacay your way, and because my brain is too warped with jet lag and two weeks worth of emails to come up with anything else, a couple of things I learned on my trip: 

Both in Paris and in the country, being green is where it's at!  Since the stores in the country don't even offer you a bag at the check out, I was exceedingly pleased with my usual habit of always stashing one of my many stylish envirosax in my sturdy Ellington handbag.  People grow their own food, make verses buy and generally just spend a lot less money on things that, at the end of the day, they don't really need.  I'm not saying that shopping is bad or that I didn't NEED the new pair of Frye boots I got for my trip, I'm just saying in the first few days after arriving in the country, I noticed I had this inherent compulsion to go to the store to buy "stuff" before I realized, I didn't really need anything.  It would be a lot easier to save up for that really spectacular piece of jewelry or handbag if I wasn't constantly running to the Key Foods around the corner to get "stuff" that I definitely don't need!   

Secondly, time spent with friends and family, eating, chatting and visiting, is time well spent.  In the country, work begins promptly at 8am, lunch begins promptly at 12pm and lasts for at least an hour, and then everyone takes a nap.  Stores close between 12pm and 2pm to support this habit.  Then you work for a few more hours, eat and drink and visit some more, and then go to sleep.  These simple pleasures are, sadly, some of the first to get gobbled up by the hectic pace of our lives, but having just got a big healthy dose, I'm feeling the need for a steady diet of work/life balance (I wonder how Jessica will feel about me napping in the middle of the day.....). 

And lastly, because I think this jet lag is really getting to me and I'm starting to wax poetic, good red wine is good for the soul, especially when it's cheap. 

LupRocks Fantasy Headlines

Today on the street I was handed a copy of the fake New York Times containing fantasy stories of what life might be like on July 4, 2009, and a clever take on the iconic tag line that reads, "All the News We Hope to Print."  The internet is abuzz with the possible source of this newspaper, and it has many New Yorkers contemplating a very different kind of future, with titles announcing the end of the war in Iraq, and "Nationalized Oil to Fund Climate Change Efforts." 

We here at Lup H.Q. came up with a few headlines of our own that seem far more plausible than Bush being indicted on charges of high treason and facing the death penalty.  Herein are some titles from "Future Luprocks.com:"

Celebrity Product Placement of Fine Jewelry and Accessories through LupRocks.com Results in Spike in Sales for U.S. Retailers

Film Production Quadruples in 2009--LupRocks.com Product Placement Service Sited as Cause of Budget Savings and Production Boom

LupRocks.com Media Sweep "Ellie" Awards

LupRocks.com Costumers Take Home Emmys

Personal "Jeweler to the Stars" Sites LupRocks.com as Gateway to Success

Got any of your own dream headlines??  Submit a comment! 

Update!  Gawker.com gives us the scoop on who was behind this brilliant prank!