I'm so proud of my sister!!!!

My little sister Katie graduated college this weekend! I am so stinkin' proud of her!

She is an amazing and talented graphic artist and designer and if you don't believe me, you should check out her website, www.katleehornstein.com . She made ALL of that, like... from scratch. Even the computer stuff. It's crazy. 

Katie has always been an amazing artist and her work always blows me away. I never know how to describe her work exactly, due to the fact that I'm not an artist. But I will say this: it has soul- it's not just computer art, it's art on the computer. I think there's a big difference. Her professors and her peers notice it too- maybe that's why she got the highest grade possible on her final portfolio review and was invited to an exclusive art show in New York at the end of her Senior year! (I'm bragging about my sister and I don't care!!!) 

I have no doubt that she has a beautiful, creative and inspiring career ahead of her. I only hope we can work together some day. Who knows... Hornstein Public Relations and Branding Incorporated?

 I love her so much!

Yay Katie! (Fine... I'll call you "Kat," but just this once.) Yay Kat!!!

Peace and Love, and Congratulations.

Photos from the day here: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100576641223216.2595253.5515657&type=1&l=1f1e757cfc

National History Bee

Writing this blog entry this week is going to be kind of challenging, because, well, I signed a waver saying I wouldn't say very much about it. But I'm going to try, because the topic is so darn joyful!

On Thursday of this week, I got a funny email at work saying that The History Channel would be at Trinity over the weekend filming the final round of the National History Bee. Sixteen of our nation's most delightful and awkward middle schoolers would be descending upon our fair campus to duke it out for a $50,000 scholarship. That is a lot of pressure for a 7th grader, just saying! And best of all, Al Roker, everybody's favorite weatherman, would be hosting the showdown. The email asked employees if they wanted free tickets to the event. I jumped at the opportunity, and convinced Jason, as well as my long time friend Kate, to join me for a "nerdilicious" afternoon.

Al Roker!

I didn't really know what to expect when I arrived at the set. I have never been part of a studio audience before. It turns out that filming a show is an arduous process, even if there is a game in progress. If someone doesn't look at the camera the right way, or if a mic shorts out, or if the judges have to double check an answer, everything comes screeching to a halt, and there has to be a retake. I really felt bad for the kids, all of the stopping and starting must have been so exhausting mentally!

Even though it was a slow time filming, I had a blast. The best part of the day was making friends with all of the contestants' families. The kids were from all over the country- Wisconsin, Alaska, California, Pennsylvania. It felt almost like a beauty pageant. No joke- some of these kids were little "bee" professionals. They were experts to the circuit, they brought obnoxious helicopter parents with them, and they had a cocky swag that told the world this wasn't their first rodeo. Other kids were total rookies and seemed shocked to be on national television. A few were literally paralyzed on stage, poor things. But those kids- the underdogs- were my obvious favorites.

One family in particular really captured my heart. They were from a teensy tiny town in Pennsylvania and were so thrilled to be part of the day. Their child was shy and humble, and the whole family was gracious, warm and enthusiastic. The gang included parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and even teachers. They took up almost two rows, and they all had custom made t-shirts and banners for their child. The best thing about them, though, was that they clearly were a family of values and character- I saw the dad congratulating each and every one of the contestants, complimenting every child his own child was competing with, and wishing them all luck.

Seeing Al Roker was cool too- the makeup artist kept having to jump onstage and dull down the shine of his bald head! He was a total cornball, painfully so, and maybe made one too many "Golly am I old!" jokes, but I thought he was a good selection to host something as objectively lame as a middle school history bee. Plus, it's always fun to see a celebrity in real life!

I wish I could tell you how the competition went down, who won, who were my favorites, if they won-- but I can't, for two reasons. One, there's that darn waiver. And two-- I actually don't know who won! The filming took so long that we left after three hours, with easily another hour and a half to go. I guess I'll just have to tune in to the History Channel on Friday, June 1 at 9PM (primetime, folks) and find out with the rest of the world!

Peace and Love.

My graduation speech...

There have been a lot of "10 Things they won't tell you at Graduation" type articles going around. After all, 'tis the season! I am 25, and I graduated college three years ago. I feel that these three years have imparted enough wisdom on me that I am as qualified to write an advice column to graduating seniors as anybody else! As a matter of fact, if you follow my advice below, you will become wealthy, healthy, have an amazing body and social life, and your dream job!!!

Sort of. Actually not really at all. But I do think that I've picked up a few things along the way, both via my own experience and by watching all of my friends for the last few years on their various post-grad life paths. I've had some major mess-ups, but on the whole, I've learned a lot and there are definitely some things I wish I knew back in 2009. So here goes!
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1. MOVE OUT OF YOUR PARENTS' HOUSE. When I was graduating in 2009, my class was entering the worst job market since the great depression. I was part of for ABC national news piece filmed at Syracuse about how none of us could find jobs. A lot of my friends moved in with their parents to "save money." We are now entering our fourth year out of college, and many of them are still living in their parents' basements. My friends and I who moved away agree that we feel lightyears apart maturity-wise from our friends at home. There is just so much growing up that happens when you have to be responsible for your own rent check, groceries and laundry. These things seem like burdens, but that independence is actually wonderful. My friends whom I know that still live at home are generally down on themselves, feel trapped, and have no social lives or dating lives. They complain all of the time. Get out! You can do it!

On this topic, I should also say that getting out from under your parents' roof is not contingent on you having a salaried job. Salaries make things easier, but you don't need one to make your own way somewhere. I have friends from NYC to LA who made the interim time work in all kinds of interesting ways: living on an Americorps stipend, working as a male nanny, taking random catering jobs while working at an unpaid internship, temping. It is possible, and while it seems harder, trust me, you will be happier than your friends living at home. As my friend Justin Liang (who risked it all and moved to LA to pursue his dreams in film) used to say: "Ramen noodles taste better when you're looking at the Hollywood sign." It's true!

2. GET A JOB. Listen to me carefully: It does NOT have to be your dream job. Your plans and whatever you want to do right now probably aren't going to work out. To some extent, you have to kind of go with the flow, keep your nose in the right direction, and see what happens. But any job is better than no job. I graduated with a degree in Public Relations from a journalism school and then started my career as a high-school Spanish teacher. Now, I work using my PR skills and my knowledge of the education system to fundraise for a tiny women's college that mostly serves minorities. I have lunch tomorrow with an 102-year-old potential donor. At some point in my life I thought I was going to be working in major league baseball, but instead I'm having lunch with a 102-year old. And guess what? I am very, very happy. This job is something I didn't know existed when I graduated college and I had no POSSIBLE way of knowing I'd end up here, but here I am. And it's all good.

3. GET A JOB. THEN GET ANOTHER JOB. Your twenties are the most glorious time of your life. No parents, total independence, and your only responsibilities are to work, and play! No kids, no house, no nothing. It really really rules. Except that you're also kind of poor in your twenties. A salary doesn't go that far when you have ridiculous city rents to pay and taxes and car repairs and all that. So get another job that is for play money only. I babysit, it's phenomenal. Most cities have a huge babysitter void because no one with teenagers lives in the city, and wealthy parents love having babysitters that are older and responsible and have college education. I used sittercity.com and had great luck with it and so have my friends. But you don't HAVE to babysit. I have friends that wait tables, tutor, bartend- you name it. That extra cash is what makes taking a cab home at night or going out to a fancy cocktail bar ok and guilt free.

4. JOIN A GYM IMMEDIATELY AND GO. Everyone knows about the Freshman 15, but fewer people tell you about the Fresh-outta-college 15. Allow me to explain. When you are in college, you have a dining hall with a beautiful salad bar and tons of fresh-made options every day. When you get out of college, you have a lot of mac n cheese and carry-out chinese and happy hour bar food (more on that later.) When you are in college, you are walking around a big campus a lot, and when you're out of college, you sit stagnant at a desk all day. College is light beer at 100 cals a pop, adulthood is fancy cocktails at 600 cals a pop. Get the picture? There are a lot of contributing factors to why you will gain weight and become even more unhealthy after college than you were in college, and my first piece of advice to you in this department is to not stop exercising. I refused to join a gym after college because it seemed expensive, and I figured that my 20-minute aerobic videos on Netflix were doing the trick once or twice a week. At a certain point enough is enough and I had to stop lying to myself. It's been a slow and painful process getting back on the exercise and healthy eating track, and if I had not fallen off in the first place I don't think it would be this tough. Invest in the money for a gym and make it a priority!

5. LEARN HOW TO COOK. This is another factor that will help battle the Fresh-outta-college 15. Remember how much you complained about dining hall food? Well let me tell you. Once you have to be responsible for your own groceries and meals, you will yearn for the days of 20 meal options from locally sourced produce and unlimited yogurt cups and cereal selections. (News flash: Cereal is like, $4 a box! You get to pick one for the week! One!! How I miss thee, Syracuse cereal dispensers.) When you are out of college, and especially if you are living in a city, you will accidentally eat out all of the time. If you start calculating how often you buy lunch, meet friends for dinner, have brunch with your roomies, you will cry at how much money you are spending and how many calories you are downing. Restaurant food and portions are bad for you. I'm going to confess something to you here so you may learn from my mistakes: One time I decided to calculate how much money I spent on food or drinks in a month that did not come from a grocery store. It was $400. That is DISGUSTING. I have since changed my ways. You don't have to know "how to cook" to start learning how to cook. Everyone starts from somewhere. Invest in a good set of knives, a non-stick skillet, and a saucepan. Also buy a volume of Rachel Ray's Express Lane Meals cookbook series, because she talks to you like the uneducated chef you are, and her food is tasty, healthy and cheap.

6. MAKE A BUDGET AND STICK TO IT/ START SAVING MONEY. It is utterly shocking where your money goes when you are on your own. I cannot stress this point enough. Things stack up and "a little here a little there" really drains you. Someone suggested that I start using mint.com, and I love it. It tracks how much you spend in each category each month and warns you when you are about to go over. So if you say you're going to only spend $100 at bars per month, you can track it, and it will text you with a warning that you are getting close! Pretty amazing stuff. As you are making your budget, automatically take out a certain amount for savings each month, and also start something called a "Roth IRA." This is a retirement plan that we can only do now in our 20's, when we're still pretty poor. If you start making a certain salary, you can't put any more money in it, so the time is now! The reason this retirement account is cool is because it's tax-free, and almost every other retirement account is not. Also, when you tell old people you have one, they get very excited and tell you how brilliant you are for saving so early and how much this is going to mean to you down the road. I don't really get how it works, but since I like approval from old people, and also want to have enough money to travel the world as an old lady myself, I'd say this is a good thing to do.

7. DATE A LOT. But don't be a slut or a man-slut. There's a lot to be said on this topic, except that my grandparents and parents read this blog so I won't get into gory details. You can just watch the HBO show "Girls" to get the idea. What I will say is this: I am very convinced that part of the growing up process is going on lots of dates with lots of types of people, because it helps you know yourself better and what you want out of a life partner. I do not, however, recommend making poor, impulsive decisions regarding these people you date. People do this in the name of being young and having fun, or because they are lonely, but eventually you are going to find someone whom you fall in love with, and you're going to have to tell them about your poor decisions, and that conversation sucks. Also, get over your fears and try online dating. Every one of my friends has at least tried it once. In the very least you get some good stories out of it, and in more than a few cases, you will find someone very special.

8. BE VERY CAREFUL WHEN CHOOSING YOUR LIVING SITUATION. When you leave college, you will likely have roommates. In many ways, roommates are great and a key part of the twenty-something social scene. But it's just not the same as in college. Some part of you WILL start to grow up and will NOT want the sink to be filled with maggot-infested 2-week-old dishes (you're a cook now, remember!) Give a lot of thought to the personality types and lifestyles of the people you are about to live with or you will slowly sink into a living hell of hair in the shower drain and creepy roommates with subscriptions to samurai sword catalogues. A quick list of things to avoid: Weird roommates from craigslist, co-ed living situations, people in serious relationships when you are not, slobs, people who work totally opposite shifts from you, people that have very different financial situations than you. I could write a whole blog post on this alone but I will not. It's common sense. You're a big person, if something looks or feels off, do not live there or you will regret it. Also, if the rent is too low, or seems too good to be true, run. There are probably bedbugs.

9. GET RELIGIOUS. When I first graduated college, I stopped going to church because I was "busy." This is a lie, everyone has time to go to church if they want to. And by church, I don't mean "church" if that's not what you do. A lot of people I know get spiritual by taking a moment of peace and gratitude for themselves in some other way- a yoga class, meditation, journaling, etc. But if you are a religious person, skipping this part of the week probably makes you feel guilty on some level, and neglecting your spiritual side is just as bad for you as neglecting your physical health or mental health. Just like those parts of you, the spiritual part of you needs to be exercised- this may sound terrible, but going to church for me has kind of been like going to the gym. I don't usually want to do it at the time, I make up a lot of excuses, sometimes I skip, but whenever I go I never regret it and I usually leave there feeling pretty good. Psychologists say that for people to be happy, four needs must be fed: work, play, love, and faith. That's not my opinion, that's science. We spend a lot of time on the first three, but why not the fourth? Whatever you chose to do in this category, be consistent and real about it.

10. LISTEN TO YOUR PARENTS- MOST OF THE TIME. They know a lot about careers, relationships, and friends. Whatever drama you're going through, they've already been through. If they don't like something you're doing, they may have a point because they know you better than anyone in the world and they love you more than anyone in the world. They can help you learn to cook and how to get out tough stains. They can teach you how to do your taxes and invest in stocks. They will tell you when you're in a bad relationship, be it romantic or friendship. They know a whole lot, and they deserve your respect. But, when they advise you to move to the suburbs of whatever awesome city you are rocking out in your 20's because you'll get more square footage for your rent, don't do that, because that is lame. Sorry mom.

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Whew! There you have it- the complete guide to love, money, career, health and beauty for being 25. Congratulations, class of 2012! I can't wait to read this blog post five years from now and laugh at what is sure to be such naive words of wisdom!

Peace and love.

Finishing LOST

When we were in college, circa 2007, my roommate Stacey liked this weird show. She'd come home from a one of her ridiculously long days, change into her PJ's, and make a beeline for the TV. I'd watch her cower under a blanket alone, screaming and gasping and yelling out loud to the characters. Sometimes I tried to catch on to whatever it was that she thought was so good, but all I saw were people marching through a jungle and the occasional creepy flying black cloud. I did not see the appeal, and never understood what was going on. I thought she was nuts!

Fast forward to 2012. As of this Saturday, I finally finished the TV series "LOST" from start to finish. And frankly, I am blown away! I realize I'm about 6 years late to this party, but I feel that my admiration for the series and the accomplishment of completing it (Thank you Netflix!!) merits its own blog post. 

Kate and Jack?

Now that I'm a grown up, and unconcerned what the constituents of Nessacus Regional Middle School think of me, I'm ok with admitting I'm a sci-fi geek. My parents were Trekkies, and my sister and I grew up loving and obsessing over Star Trek, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, etc. We were equal opportunity nerds, and LOST fits right into this vein of guilty geeky pleasure. A little bit sci-fi, a little bit fantasy, I loved every time-traveling detail! 

Or Kate and Sawyer? 

But make no mistake. I like Star Trek, but I really like Gossip Girl and Friday Night Lights and Downton Abbey, too. LOST fills in this void in my TV watching heart-- the love stories, oh the love stories!! I have not found many TV series that invested me so deeply in the characters as LOST did. I still can't believe they killed off ***** (Censored for future LOST viewers)**** after all that!!!!  

If anyone reading this has been toying around with the idea of starting the series on Netflix, but just can't seem to commit (I think I myself watched the first five episodes like, four times before I finally got into it) a word of warning: LOST is a series where you have to pay attention. It's not a good show to watch while doing laundry, cooking, or correcting papers. It's a show that deserves a bowl of popcorn, a beer, and a friend, and no other distractions to the viewing experience. But it's worthy of your attention!

People like to criticize LOST because it goes a little crazy, and there are all these unanswered questions that drive viewers nuts. And even though by the end of the series you don't get all the answers you want, when you think back to all the answers you DO get, the complexity and cleverness of the series is a work of art. There's nothing else like it on TV. I think, if I had to draw a parallel, it's comparable to "Inception," which I also loved.

Anyways. Now that the series is done, I feel like I broke up with someone! I don't know where to begin. "Mad Men" is my rebound boyfriend right now, but I have a feeling he's getting dumped soon. I had a date once with "The Wire," but it didn't go so well. Maybe it's time to call him up again. Or maybe, one of my friends can set me up with someone new. 

Suggestions welcome! 

Namaste, 

Tori 

Space Race

I really, really love living in DC!! It is the coolest city ever and this morning I had one of those "my life is SO AWESOME" moments that I don't think I'll ever forget.

As you may have seen on the news, the Space Shuttle Discovery was retired today to the Smithsonian museum. Officials decided to send it on one final "flight" over the city so America could say goodbye. Our office was so excited- we knew the fly over was happening at 10 AM, so we went about our morning counting down the minutes.

But one thing lead to another, and suddenly I was on the phone with alumnae and taking notes on calls and immersed in work when I heard the roar of a jet engine above our building. I looked at my computer clock- 10:03! The roar faded and I ran to the window. NO! I MISSED IT! I MISSED IT!!! I could hear the roar fading away but the spaceship was nowhere to be seen.

I was so upset. I gchatted my friend Shana and told her I was going to lie to people and say I saw it anyways. I turned on CNN.com where I knew there was a live feed. It loaded up and I saw the spaceship zooming along, perched on top of a 747 (How do they stick it there!? Why isn't it falling off!? How is that thing flying!?!?) and realized it was circling the Washington monument.

I can see the Washington monument from my office window. Was this a second chance?! I ran back- and sure enough, there it was!

It made a wide circle around the monument and then flew back towards the college. It was so cool! Everybody in the office had their windows thrown wide open and were hanging out as far as they could, taking cell phone pictures and literally jumping up and down with excitement. The huge jet flew low so people could get a good look, and a small jet followed alongside, taking the video feed that I was watching on CNN.

By the time I got my wits about me and decided to take a cell phone picture (To prove to Shana that I wasn't lying.) It was far away. Here's my proof that I saw it. See that tiny dot flying away in the distance? That's it. I swear!!!!

And here's a really really super awesome couple of pictures from other people's cell phones that I stole from the internet:

Yay America! Yay space! Yay DC!

Peace and Love.

Wear a Helmet, kids.

If you've been to any major city lately, or maybe just your local mall, you've probably seen people riding Segways. And even though you probably laughed at them and made fun of them out loud, deep down, you know you wanted to try them. It's ok. I did too. So when Jason suggested we actually purchase an online coupon for a 3-hour segway tour of Washington, DC, I was thrilled.

Getting the hang of it

First of all, let me tell you. Riding those bad boys is not as easy as it looks. My sister was convinced I was going to crash, and with good reason. They're so darn wobbly, it's impossible to get your balance at first! And you propel them simply by shifting your weight...not with a hand accelerator like a snowmobile or something. To turn, you kind of have to lean. But lean too far in any direction, you'll go tumbling!

Not only are you riding a wobbly, weight-sensitive dork-machine, the tours make you go out on the open road! Bike laws in DC mean that it's actually illegal to ride on the sidewalk in many places, and on some roads the bike lane is in the middle! Imagine the traffic of a downtown city street at 6pm with a chain of Segways riding in the middle of it. Yep, you're imagining it correctly.

The good news is, you eventually figure out your balance (I guess it's a bit like skiing, or riding a bike.) Once you find your center, Segways are the coolest vehicles on the planet. You can zoom around, weave in and out of obstacles, turn on a dime, anything. Everyone fell in love with them by the end of the tour, despite the constant loud harassment from the hundreds of middle school tour groups.

I'm not going to pretend like it's possible to look cool at any point while riding on a Segway, but if you can get beyond your inevitable helmet-hair, I can't recommend doing a tour enough. Find a deal in your city of choice and get riding! It's the best way to hit all the attractions in a short amount of time and it's a ton of fun. Go with friends and bring a camera. Set the camera on video when they aren't looking. You won't regret it!

Peace and Love,

Tori

A New Addiction

The start of the race at Freedom Plaza

This weekend, I ran my first ever 5k! And let me tell you, I am hooked.

To be clear: running stinks. I don't like it. I am not one of those people that gets high on endorphins, loves the feeling of a good run early in the morning, or ever would ever be competitive at running. I signed up for the 5k to SHAME myself into getting into shape. If I didn't train, I'd look like an idiot finishing last in the pack. I knew that making myself stick to a schedule with a definite end goal would be the only way to make myself actually commit. And -- it worked!

It wasn't easy. At first, I started out only running a little more than a mile- and it was painful. I remember my birthday weekend coming back from a 1.5 mile run gagging and heaving my way to the end of the jog. But 8 weeks later, thinks were much improved!

I owe a lot of people thanks for helping me get ready for the race. My friend Shana, who completed a marathon last year, emailed me regularly with tips and turned me on to Hal Higdon's training program. My friend Holly who showed up outside my door for after-work runs every week and was extremely patient with my slow pace. My friend Rachel who inspired me with her half-marathon training. And of course, all of my friends who showed up to cheer me on!

But one person deserves the most credit. My dad! We used to run together when I was in high school and even during the summers in college. He always pushed me to do my best. When I suggested that he fly down to DC and join me in the race, I never thought he'd actually agree. But he signed on and began to train, and when we started texting each other daily reporting on our progress, there was no quitting!

The race was called the "Scope it Out 5k" and was to benefit colon cancer research. About 3500 people participated. We ran along Pennsylvania avenue to the front steps of the Capitol. It was a cold and misty morning, but dad and I had a blast- we finished the race running less than 10-minute miles and a total time of 30:26. I was very proud of our "couch to 5k" progress!

Crossing the finish line

So why the addiction? Well, even though running is boring, painful and stinky- the cheer of the crowd and the adrenaline rush of a race is the closest thing I've found to being on stage since I graduated high school. And I hate to admit it, but I loved that feeling then...and I love it now. So if I get to enjoy the adrenaline and the cheering, and get in shape at the same time-- it's worth it! I've already signed up for my next 5k in April.

Besides the joy of the race, my dad and I had a lovely weekend together. We visited the National Arboretum, the Smithsonian, and had a number of delectable meals. I miss him already. Here's to more races together!

Post-race smiles- and sweat!!

All our amazing cheerleaders!

Peace and Love.