Etc.

Healthy Kids: AT&T and Make-A-Wish

by Ashley on December 18, 2012

This weekend I had the honor of delivering $3500 worth of tech goods to the YMCA of Yolo County on behalf of AT&T!

Remember when I told you that I got the chance to go to Camp Mighty because AT&T wanted to help me do something philanthropic? AT&T partnered with the Make-A-Wish® foundation this year to make a difference and the YMCA currently has a program called Healthy Kids that’s all about getting kids active and empowered to make healthy choices for the rest of their lives. We all wanted to help make that happen.

We brought them tons of FitBit activity trackers that can sync with the directors’ new tablets (!) and give the participants insights to their health and a couple sets of iHome speakers for group fitness activities. They have promised to send me photos of the kids using their new devices and getting fit!

If you’re interesting in learning more about the partnership between AT&T and Make-A-Wish®, check out AT&T’s Wish-A-Day Sweepstakes: they are sponsoring a daily wish from November 23rd through December 20th for children with life-threatening medical conditions.

[Photo from Camp Mighy, receiving funds from AT&T, taken by JETKAT photo. Pictured from left: Sarah Bryden-Brown, Meghan Myszkowski, Laura Mayes, Beth Blecherson, Melanie Biehle, Alice BradleyHeather Spohr, Ashley Muir Bruhn (me), Amber Doty, Maggie Mason, and Jaime Morrison Curtis.]

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Crumpled City Maps (and some Friday links)

by Ashley on December 7, 2012

What are you up to this weekend? I feel like the opportunity cost of weekend plans in December is high–there are so few days to embrace the holidays, no pressure or anything. We’re talking about spending Saturday in San Francisco (the weather should be beautiful and maybe we’ll go to this), and we’ll also be celebrating the anniversary of our engagement (Aron has secret plans).

When we head to San Francisco, I like to toss a Crumpled City map in my bag–just in case. Have you seen these? They’re brilliant. And awesome: it’s virtually unrippable, and completely waterproof, and is designed to be opened and closed over-and-over without any thought given to proper folding.

A dozen or so Crumpled city maps are available on Amazon (around $10), including Paris, New York, London, Berlin and, of course, San Francisco. There’s also a Crumpled City Junior edition–I’ll have to get the Paris one for Hudson next time we’re lucky enough to go.

Here are a few other things that have caught my eye lately:

Pigeon-hunting catfish!? Wild! These non-indigenous, usually-nocturnal catfish have adapted to pounce on pigeons along the banks of the Tarn in Southern France. What a fascinating look at adaptation.

I finally started checking out books for Hudson at the library to avoid overspending on children’s titles and after a few nights with this borrowed copy of Caillou: Things That Go!, Hudson hugged it and kissed all the vehicles goodnight. Non-spending resolve, be damned–I think we might need to buy him that book.

My Preston glasses have gone missing. Again. Luckily they’re from Warby Parker and cost just under $100, but it’s still painful. Have you ever ordered glasses online? They have a brilliant “home try-on” program. I also like the Mallory frames a lot.

I’ve been thinking about putting up some wallpaper in Hudson’s room again, but I’d really like to go the temporary route. I was so excited to see this resource on Jenny’s blog.

Speaking of whom, Jenny’s cabinet makeover is beyond amazing. Check out the jaw-dropping before-and-afters.

These painterly images on Miss Moss are gorgeous. How does she do it?

I promise I want to start sharing more images of our new home soon. It’s such a work-in-progress. (I love the vibe in these images of Solange’s home, btw.)

So many brilliant advent calendars out there right now. But doesn’t this one sound so sweet?

What’s your feeling on All Inclusive vacations? They definitely have their place! (Fewer decisions + no additional spending=true relaxation?)

On the other hand, how soon can we go here?

I’ve just signed up for Luvocracy. Have you checked it out? I’ll give you a more thorough opinion in a week or so–after I’ve played around with it more–but I think it has amazing potential. Check out Joy’s post about it, for more detail. (BTW, if you do decide to request an invite to sign up, it would be awesome if you went through this link!)

Have a great weekend! (No pressure.)

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Happy Friday!

by Ashley on November 30, 2012

Guess what? Our photograph (which first appeared in our post, “The Highline. Part Two.“), is on the back cover of the Highline’s Fall Newsletter–sent out to friends and supporters of the park. We just got our copies in the mail and they look great!

What do you have planned for the weekend? We’re going to start getting our Christmas decorations out. Last night we walked downtown for Davis’s annual tree lighting celebration. The University band played, Santa was there, children held candles and went to free screenings of the Grinch at an old theatre–and somehow a sizable crowd gathered in spite of some pretty crappy weather (bah humbug). So I think the holiday season is truly here. It’s December 1st tomorrow: time to get a tree! And this will be the first year we have our own home for stringing lights.

Hope you have a good one!

P.S. Hudson’s super-awesome babysitter (from when we were in New York), wrote about reaching for her dreams. For the New York Times! So inspiring.

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Happy Thanksgiving!

by Ashley on November 22, 2012

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Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving, filled with people and things you love!

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Hello from Camp Mighty

by Ashley on November 19, 2012

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I got back late last night from Palm Springs, where I spent the past three-and-a-half days participating in Camp Mighty at the Ace Hotel. The official tag line is “Camp Mighty is a retreat for people who like to make cool things happen,” and I met some amazing people doing very cool things. For example, the woman making the impromptu, would-be Breck hair commercial with me here? That’s Jeanne Lewis, the CEO and co-founder of Creative Bug–a startup that aims to be the go-to source for online art and craft instruction. Like so many of the people I met, she had infectious enthusiasm about what is possible.

Some of my favorite bumper-sticker moments of the talks? Ben Silbermann, the founder of Pinterest, was the keynote speaker (with the sweetest family–seriously, we’re going to talk more about his mother-in-law sometime) and led with “Inspiration is contagious. But so is self-doubt.” Isn’t that so true? You know, I never mention it, but I think about how I should stop blogging just about every day. Self-doubt. So tricky.

Jordan Ferney struck a cord with many people when she said that “the chief cause of failure and unhappiness is trading what you want most for what you want in the moment.” She made me want to post goals on my fridge! And from Jenny Lawson, aka The Bloggess: If you are doing something no one hates, no one will love it.”

There was also a business-tip trading session at one point and it was fascinating to hear from people whose experience ranged from working behind the desk at their parents’ laundry business all their lives to selling their little startup called Hootsuite. (Have you heard of it?) “Do what you do best, and hire out the rest” was the tip from Susan Petersen of Freshly Picked.

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I got the chance to go because AT&T is going to help me do something philanthropic, to help me give back–and I’ll share more about that soon–so meeting these (very friendly) cool people who are doing very cool things at this oh-so-cool place, well this was really just icing.

P.S. Maggie Mason, who started Mighty Events (and who is also a UCDavis alum!), just launched Go Mighty–a site for sharing your life list and inviting brands to make things on it happen. Check it out. And for a couple more smile booth pics, check my twitter feed @ashleymuirbruhn.

 

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