My quest for a decent laptop bag

Yes, I've managed to kill yet another laptop bag. I'm walking around with one that has the two handles knotted together because one strap broke. It looks really suave, but I could hardly justify shopping for a bag with deadlines looming! But now it's Friday night, the kids are at soccer and I'm spending my one hour of peace all week shopping for a laptop bag. Yes, I'm a geek.

It hasn't been that long since I bought the last one (I'm tough on bags!) but I've found a lot more interesting choices this time around. Enough to be worth sharing. My criteria? Apparently almost impossible!

I started out thinking I wanted a TSA approved bag to avoid one part of the fun stripping and unpacking process required every plane trip. But after a little research, few TSA bags seem to fit the fun criteria - and it further appeared that few TSA agents have actually been trained to let the bags through unmolested, so... maybe next time.

Last time I picked a bag that has a suitcase pass-thru designed to allow it to "ride" on top of a suitcase - also handy for air travel. But that one didn't fit the fun criteria. So this time, fun gets a higher priority. After all, I am inseparable from my computer - my laptop bag is my most worn "accessory" - it might as well be both functional and fun. It should also be not huge, as I'm only 5'2" and can easily be dwarfed by some bags. Oh, and it should last more than 6 months. (And did I mention I like pockets to keep things handy? And that light is also important because it's silly for the bag to weigh more than the computer?)

That does start to narrow down the choices, but here are a few:

• Acme Made - Popular with a few of my friends for their cool fabrics & high style
• Waterfield Designs - Made 100% in the USA, in SanFran, by a group of people who sound outlandishly committed to making cool stuff & providing great customer service. Pricey, but reviews indicate they last forever, making these tempting...
  
• Timbuk2 - Like Waterfield, these have many customization options - almost TOO many. Has anyone added up all the options? It has got to be an insane number of possible combinations...
• Flat - OMG. Almost enough to make me forget the rest of the criteria. It's made from recycled bike intertubes and it looks fab! (I like seatbelt purses too - there's a theme here...)
• Helen Riegle - 100% recycled materials and fashionable enough to be found in Hollywood (but not big enough for much more than a computer.)
• Keen - Shows you how much I know - I thought Keen was a shoe company! Some recycled components are a plus. And the fact that it "houses your laptop with the right amount of room for excess stuff" makes it the winner!
  

Want to be a part of the change?

If you've got ideas for things you'd like to see happening or change in Southeast Michigan, and you would like to be part of the change, please drop me a line and let me know what your interests are. Quite a few invitations for boards, committees and other volunteer opportunities cross my desk these days, and I would be happy to play matchmaker if you're looking for a way to get involved. Sometimes it's hard to know where to start if you're new to a community or branching out into a new area of interest, and I'd be happy to help!

Downtown Ann Arbor's 21st Century General Store

I stopped in Acme this afternoon to pick up a winter gloves since mine have a habit of going AWOL, and was happy to find they were on clearance. Bonus!

Acme is one of those places that's a little burst of sunshine. Their creative mix of fun stuff means there's always a little something to make you smile. Today I treated myself to a pair of earrings for a whopping $4.90. So if you think shopping downtown means being a big spender, think again!

I like Acme because to me, it's the modern day general store. I can grab a cute gift on my way to a party, a cutting board for the kitchen (yes, that's where ours at Pure Visibility came an from), name badges (you might have seen these at our Donuts and Search Marketing sessions), and just about anything else that might come up in the course of a crazy day in the office. (Hammers, band-aids, soap, you-name-it.)

Plus, you can feel good about your purchase. A little flyer came in my shopping bag that says:

Supporting your locally owned business leads to 3.5 times more money staying wining the community than with national chains.

You have the ability to keep downtown vibrant - keep supporting local stores and let store owners know what sorts of thing you would like to see down here. We love your input!

The moral of the story? Keep shopping! (Downtown. :-)

Keeping the City of Saline great

I was in a wonderful meeting this morning; a brainstorming, "think tank" meeting about how to keep the City of Saline great and make it an even more awesome place to live. This is no small task, given that the city is already ranked as one of the Top 100 Best Places to Live!

It's exciting to be in a community that can get a group of community leaders together at the same table in true collaboration. I'm told this is a rare feat, though it's easy to take for granted living around here.

One thing that struck me about our conversation today, after having just read Good to Great, is that we know exactly what drives the economic engine of Saline - our schools. So it follows that ensuring we've got school system that is world-class is a key to our growth. We want to prepare our students (my kids!) for the ever-faster-changing world out there; and we want our schools to be so fabulous that when people move to Michigan, they are asking their realtors about Saline because they want their kids in our schools.

What makes a school that fabulous? We'll figure that out. We've already got a top-of-the-line Michigan school, (e.g. Saline is now ranked 6th in ACT scores in Michigan), so the question is simply, what do we need to take it to the next level? We'd love to hear your ideas!

The cooking show secret revealed

Ever wonder how Alton Brown, Rachel Ray, Emeril, et. al. can make such fast work of chopping food? I figured it out. It's not just technique - it's the knives!

This year for Christmas I splurged and got Dave a set of nice new knives. I settled on Wusthof after reading a lot of online reviews because they didn't have the complaints of rusting/staining that many other high-end brands did. (It also helped that Macy's happened to be running a half-off sale on a block set - thanks, Macy's!)

Today, I used the chef's knife to mince cilantro and chop cucumbers for the bean salad I promised the nutritionist at Joust! I'd make, and, wow! I can't tell you how amazing the difference is! After being married for almost 15 years, apparently we were long overdue for a new set of knives. If you enjoy cooking, but not all the prep - get new knives! You'll be glad you made the investment!

(BTW, the recipe I made was Black 'N White Bean Salad, and the little I snitched was tasty!)

Getting serious about getting healthy

I've been trying to shake some kind of coughing crud since mid-November (8 weeks ago!), with not a lot of help from antibiotics or my doc. After I layered a cold / laryngitis on top of whatever-I-have it was clear that I was getting worse instead of better and decided to do something different.

Today, I attended a fitness class called Charge! at the Joust gym in Ann Arbor and genuinely feel better. I was quite the wimp - did less reps and lower weights than everyone in the class - and stopped for the occasional coughing fit - but it felt like my chest was more "open" when I was done. Yeah! The other truly amazing part was that we were done in 45 minutes; making it something I could believably do on a regular basis.

The instructor that led my class, Melissa, is also a registered dietician. I kept a food log a few days before class and we reviewed it after. The goal - to get better, and find some more energy! Melissa is great - she's a self declared "lazy" dietician so she actually recommends things that are possible for already-too-busy people to do. (I really lucked out!) My "homework" is funny - I get to eat *more*! I have to eat breakfast and a morning snack and lunch and an afternoon snack. That's about 3 more meals than I eat during a typical workday, so this will pose some scheduling fun-ness!

Eating that often also means needing *quick* meals. Because she's more worried about me getting enough calcium (per the food log) and getting pro-biotics than about cholesterol, my snacks will include a lot of dairy. Which is fine by me! Just surprising! Here's a few easy things she recommended:

• Keifer - full of pro-biotics and DHA*. Supposed to have this once a day. Bought some Strawberry-Banana which the kids happen to love too. Bonus!
• Cottage Cheese - I still miss AE Cottage Cheese (it's an Iowa thing) but it turns out Whole Foods carries an Iowa cottage cheese so I may be in luck! Can't wait to try it.
• Hard Boiled Eggs - Turns out you can buy them pre-boiled, and pre-peeled in a bag! Some even with DHA. Yes this is lazy and more expensive, but if the whole problem is that you're wiped out to begin with, finding easy ways to eat well is the only way to get that downward spiral turned around.
• Yogurt - also full of pro-biotics and DHA if you find the right stuff. Supposed to have this once a day, too - even with the Keifer! I'll be swimming in dairy. ;-)
• Hummus - It's actually easy to make, but I used the shortcut here, too. That and some pre-cut veggies (cheating again!) will make fast snacks.

The other big thing I promised to do was make two larger meals on Sunday that will work as lunches for some of the week. I had actually already started doing that with soup, and she suggested adding a bean salad as something that's both easy and has lots of protein to keep energy up. Here's hoping this plan gets the new year off to a healthier start!

* Turns out DHA is source of Omega 3's, which are hard to get outside of eating fish. Good to know it can be found in more food these days!

Magic Chocolate Chip Pancake Mix

At this time of year, my relatives, co-workers, and anybody who happens to invite us over is the lucky recipient of our Magic Chocolate Chip Pancake mix. It's "magic" because the chocolate chips disappear in the jar, but magically re-appear when you make the pancakes. (Warning: it does make people wonder why you're giving them a jar of flour.)

The tradition started because the kids LOVE the chocolate chip pancakes we discovered at a diner on Michigan Avenue. We wanted to share the love *and* make a move toward making more of what we give. It feels good to put a little love and a blessing in every jar for the special people we share them with. They're always a hit so I'll share the recipe, even at the risk of everyone learning how simple it is - all in the spirit of sharing the love. :-)

Here's our beloved recipe from The Mason Jar Soup to Nuts Cookbook by Lonnette Parks.

Ingredients:

Quart canning jar
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup chocolate chips
3 tablespoons sugar
1 1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions:

Mix together, and pour into the quart jar. This job is made oodles easier with a canning funnel. It's also much easier if you plan to do this before the holidays and buy the canning jars in the late summer when the stores are well stocked. Wait 'til Christmas and you'll be picking up the last box at a bunch of places all over town. (Aco and Wal-Mart are good targets.)

P.S. Don't forget to include a tag with the instructions on how to turn the mix into pancakes. This faux-pax is truly guaranteed to make people wonder why you gave them flour. ;-) Here's the recipient instructions:

Magic Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Jar Yield: 4 servings of 4 pancakes each
For each serving, in addition to 1 cup of jar mix, you will need to add:
1 egg, slightly beaten
3/4 cold cup milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Lightly coat a nonstick griddle or large skillet with cooking spray, and place over medium-high heat. Place 1 cup of the jar mix in a medium size bowl. Add the egg, milk, and oil, and mix gently with a wooden spoon or whisk until well blended but slightly lumpy. Pour 1/3 cups of batter onto the hot griddle and cook 1 1/2 minutes, or until bubbles form on top and the edges are dry and browned. Flip and cook another 30 seconds, or until the bottoms are golden brown. Serve hot with butter and syrup. Enjoy!