Catching Up With The Lost Girls

Tuesday night, I had the pleasure of catching up with friends (and writers extraordinaire) Amanda, Holly and Jen, a.k.a The Lost Girls.

I joined the ladies for a happy hour at The Australian, an Oz-themed bar in Midtown West. With a perfect glass of rose in hand, I filled Amanda in about my recent dating adventures and making the Top 50 for Murphy-Goode Winery’s A Really Goode Job. She and her sweet boyfriend Jeff were gearing up for three-week vacation to one of my favorite countries, Costa Rica.

Speaking of significant others, Jen was all aglow about her new beau whom she met unexpectedly a month ago at a party.

“We started talking and haven’t stopped,” she said with a smile.

In reflecting on the early days of getting to know someone new, Jen and I talked about how men in New York differ from, say, their counterparts in the South. Southern males, Jen observed, assume women will be a little coy and play hard to get while Gotham guys expect more assertiveness. As a modern woman who’s still a traditional girl at heart, I have to say Jen gave me food for thought.

We also found ourselves talking about something that seems to be coming up a lot lately for me -- the challenges of making time for romance when you’re juggling a career, friends and the generally frenetic pace of life in NYC.

Just back from China and a stint in upstate New York, Holly shared the welcome news that she’s moved to the Upper East Side, just a few blocks away from me. We shared a cab uptown, parting with promises to take in some of my favorite neighborhood haunts together. Busy or not, there’s always time for a girls night out.

A Week To Remember

Once in awhile, a vacation offers up the perfect mix of rejuvenation, romance and female bonding. This week, that’s exactly what I enjoyed.

It began with a festive happy hour for Single Gal In The City’s upcoming one-year anniversary. The high from celebrating continued when I learned on Friday that I’ve made the Top 50 shortlist for A Really Goode Job -- the highly coveted California vineyard gig that received nearly 2,000 applicants.

Kicking Back in CT: relaxing at The Spa At Norwich Inn

The relaxation apex of my week off -- a Connecticut getaway with good friend Bobbi to the fabulous Spa At Norwich Inn.

Add to all of this excitement date #2 with adorable, intriguing cop Rich and winning $50 at Mohegan Sun and you’ve got a perfect respite from work.

Coming up….details about my action-packed vaca and a look at the parental relationship effect.

A Really Goode Job

It’s often said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. In the world of PR and marketing, there’s no better example of that than the many copycat campaigns inspired by my client Tourism Queensland’s Best Job In The World competition.

My favorite Best Job redux -- Murphy-Goode Winery’s A Really Goode Job.

Like Tourism Queensland, the venerable family-owned Sonoma vineyard has launched an online video contest to find a “Wine Country Lifestyle Correspondent.” Unlike TQ’s high-profile blogging gig, though, I’m eligible to apply for this one, and that’s what I’ve done in a 57-second video you can watch here.

The six-month job is perfect for a PR-loving, blog writing oenophile like me. Which is why I’m hoping you’ll click on my video and vote for me so I can make it to the Top 50.

Vote and forward now, and see you at the vineyard!