In the Mix with Aaliyah Miller

The first month of the new year is almost wrapped. A few hours left to go. Are you still buzzing off of your New Year's goals or resolutions? I'm not. Reality has hit me and I'm back to the feeling that there are not enough hours in the day to do all the things I want to do. It's frustrating  because I feel 2013 got off to a slow start. However, rather than beat myself up (something I usually do in my blog posts), I'm going to take the advice of my college friend ChaChanna , and dust off my shoulders and get back into the game. In ChaChanna's newsletter  Your Stellar Star , she reminds her readers that 80 percent of people usually quit their resolutions by January 20 of each year. I'm happy to say that I haven't gone that far, but I do recognized that I'm overwhelmed by school at the moment and that has set me back with my screenwriting objectives. The good thing is that I recognize my problem. Now I need to take ChaChanna's advice and ...

Posing at the Amphitheater in El Gem. Happy New Year or should I say Happy Belated New Year now that we are more than half-way through January. I meant to write this blog post on January one, but I was on vacation in Tunisia with Karim and told myself I would write an entry when I got back. Then I got back and I said at the end of the week. Needless to say I kept delaying the blog post until now. I just wasn't ready to write, but now I am. Throughout the blog I've decided to post some of my favorite pictures from my recent travels. Enjoy!! Before I get into me on this blog, I want to take a moment to recognize this historic day. It is historic for many reasons. First, we honor and celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, a civil and human rights activist. While this holiday comes every year, it doesn't make it any less momentous. Dr. King galvanized a nation with his quest for equal rights through nonviolence. He was forward thinking and his efforts are still ...

The welcome sign at my desk. This week I wrapped my first week at the new job. From my view point it was good. I met new colleagues and quickly began to get acclimated to my new environment. I was treated to lunch with my new communications team, which I really appreciated. I still have a pretty big learning curve ahead of me but I'm confident that all I need to know will eventually become second nature once I get used to the new company policies and procedures. In retrospect I'm glad I had last week off to mentally prepare for the change. I was in my last position for seven years. That was my longest work stint with an organization and leaving the position was bittersweet. Despite having time off, I still had work to do. I had to finish an assignment for my strategic communications class, an exit interview with my previous employer, concluded personal professional coaching sessions (also very helpful), attended a social media training sponsored by PRSA in New York City ...

Months ago I signed up to take PRSA 's Social Media Boot Camp with Eric Schwartzman . While I've been using social media for a few years,  I'm not a social media expert.  Today, I woke up at 4:45 a.m. to catch the New Haven line Metro North train to New York City for a two-day workshop that will hopefully put me on the path of being a more social media savvy communications professional. I was ready to engage and dig deeper in the subject of social media. After an eight-hour day, I'm still trying to process all the information I received. Did the rubber meet the road? Yes and no. Some of the main concepts in Eric's overview I already knew and those I didn't I grasped fairly quickly, which was a relief. However, the nitty gritty of how to strategically incorporate social media in communication and media relation outreach efforts remains a challenge. It will boil down to applying what I've learned and retained.  There was a lot of information to dige...

Q&A with the artists. The past two weeks have been a whirlwind for me. I'm glad that hosting my first Thanksgiving is behind me. It was small dinner, which is fine by me. Thanks go out to my mom and mother-in-law for helping me prepare the staple items such as the turkey and the stuffing. I've been running on close to empty going into this holiday weekend. It was filled with travel to Baltimore for a training on Results-based Facilitation and then a trip to St. Louis to record interviews for an anniversary video. I also finalized my team's script for the 2012 Action on Film Writers' Room Invitational and said good-bye to one job as I prepare to start another. Halima rehearsing with the actors. During this time I also squeezed in coordinating the second ProduceHERS' event, a Women's Artist Showcase with partner Halima Flynn. The  Showcase was held at the downtown New Haven Public Library and ran from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Although we got off to a late s...

Many in the Northeast are still recovering from the aftermath of hurricane Sandy. I'm one of the lucky ones. I have a roof over my head, heat, and luxuries such as cable and Internet. My heart goes out to my fellow neighbors both in and out of state that are still trying to get back to their  pre-hurricane lives. I was getting a little bit down on myself because I haven't posted a a blog or restaurant review in a few weeks. I have eaten out at a couple of local New Haven restaurants, but between starting my next class, gearing up for a job transition, and life in general, I've dropped the ball on the writing front. While I have my regrets I realize there are more important things to consider. The most important thing for me at the moment is tomorrow's election. It's been a grueling campaign on both sides and I think it's an illustration of how high the stakes are for all Americans, no matter what side of the political aisle you may fall. This past Saturday,...

I'm getting ready to head out to Salute's for Karim's birthday dinner. But before I go here's my restaurant review of  Nini's House of Tapas , located at 40 Orange Street, in downtown New Haven. This past Wednesday, I was busy at work and stopping to eat lunch wasn't a priority. Before I knew it, it was 2 p.m. and I still had not had lunch. I was hungry. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful fall day, I felt the need to take advantage of it. I walked by Nini's quite a few times but never dropped in. Back in the summer, there was a Nini's restaurant takeout menu hanging in the Casey lunch room and I remembered that they offered $9.95 pasta and pizza lunch specials that come with a house' salad and beverage. I said to myself, "Today is the day, I try Nini's. Jessica, one of my department colleagues also worked through her lunch and decided to join me. It would be two for lunch. House salad that comes with lunch. Nini's serv...