The Art of Awkward

It’s kind of depressing to see the exact same brands in every country you visit,” one of the Australians I met noted in Munich.

WaWa Treats. Photo courtesy of Foodzie.

While Europe isn’t as Americanized as I expected, globalization is alive and well in every city. Even Privas just received its first McDonalds. Nearly every city has an H&M, Starbucks and McDonalds. Rinse and repeat. Let’s be honest, it’s not that I don’t love the first two. Yet despite the wildly disparate cultures of the countries I visit, I can buy a grande latte on the way to my affordable Swedish design almost anywhere. It is tiring to see the same brands in every country.

That’s why I love what Foodzie is doing. For all my friends who don’t spend as much time on the Internet as I do, Foodzie is similar to an online farmer’s market. Meaning they help artisinal food producers build a web presence and help discerning foodies find some of the best damn food out there. Each producer is more of a regional Mom & Pop type producer with a compelling story.

What’s more is that Foodzie makes the best presents out there. I’ve been giving Foodzie as presents for more than a year, and they usually elicit a wow. The packaging is stellar, the food is incredible, the selection is unique and the prices are affordable. Typically, for this level of quality, you’d pay Godiva prices.

I met the founders of Foodzie through TechStars, which was a pro-bono client of my last agency. TechStars is a three-month program that helps tech startups accelerate their growth providing mentorship from some incredible leaders in tech. The three founders of Foodzie are in their early- to mid-twenties and took a big shift from their traditional career paths to start a company. They uprooted themselves from stable jobs and a house in North Carolina to Boulder for TechStars and then to San Francisco to host their company. I love that when I shop Foodzie, I’m not only supporting the entrepreneurship of their many producers, but twenty-somethings who took big risks rather than a traditional path.

Kika's Treats. Caramelized graham crackers with pure milk chocolate. Photo courtesty of Foodzie

And if you’re looking for some suggestions for what to order, these are some of the producers I’ve given gifts from: Coco-luxe, Taza Chocolates, BonBonBars, p.o.p candy, Liz Lovely, Seth Ellis chocolates and little laura’s sweets. I’ve had dreams about Kika’s Treats previously. You can even turn them into s’mores. You’ll notice I don’t deviate from the chocolate section, so you’ll have to get non-sweet recommendations elsewhere. This Valentine’s and Easter, forgo the Schaffers and Cadbury. Your loved ones will thank you for it.

Several of my friends have gotten engaged recently (congrats Laura, Liz and Kristy!) and had amazing heartfelt proposals. Proposals in French, trips to Seattle and Napa. Incredible. But this proposal really struck a chord in my heart. Adorable. (Thanks Meredith for sharing!)

Not that I have any desire to have kids right now. The closest I want to come to having children is to babysit my adorable nephew for a couple hours and then return him to his parents, stat.

The reason I can’t have kids right now relates entirely to insurance. Since I left my last job, I opted not to go with COBRA but instead opted to go with an independent insurance option, specifically Kaiser Permanente. As I was looking at my options, I was surprised to see prenatal care wasn’t covered. No matter what plan I looked at, prenatal wasn’t covered.

I thought it was a Kaiser practice, until I saw this article floating around Twitter – “Being A Woman Is Not A Pre-Existing Condition.” To my astonishment, only 12 percent of individual market plans include comprehensive maternity coverage. I’m not pregnant now, so I don’t see how insurance companies can preemptively decide they won’t cover this for me moving forward. I don’t think it’s fair to group pregnancy under elective options. Having a baby isn’t exactly on par with having a nose job.

What further infuriates me is that in nearly all cases, it takes TWO to make a baby. Yet this scenario puts all of the financial onus on women. The loopholes of not being covered with a pregnancy loom large. If your company shuts down, you no longer qualify for Cobra. One women had herself induced, so she would give birth before her company shut down, and still get hit with an $18,000 hospital bill. Holy crap. And if you have had a C-Section and live in Colorado, United Health has the right to simply reject you on the spot. It limits options for women to work as entrepreneurs where you are often required to have independent insurance options.

Furthermore, gender rating (a bullshit discriminatory practice) means that women pay more – a lot more – for insurance options. According to The Denver Post,

“Colorado women age 40 and under shopping for health insurance in the individual market, not through an employer, pay from 10 percent to 59 percent more than men, according to analysis by the National Women’s Law Center.”

I don’t want children now (and maybe ever) but discriminatory laws that limit the prenatal care and thus health of this country’s babies deserves everyone’s wrath. I’ll be damned if insurance companies run almost entirely by men get to determine if I can have kids someday.

As excited as I am about three months in Europe, there is a lot of things that are terrifying me to the core. I wake up from nightmares every single night since I’ve made the decision. This is a good thing. As it is, there are a lot of things in life that scare me or make me uncomfortable. But what scares us, what makes us tremble, what gives us nightmares, are often the activities in life that are most memorable and worth pursuing. So cheers to being scared!

• Flying – I rationally know flying is safer than driving, but cars never shake due to turbulence. Being on planes for three months including a leg from Seattle to Reyjavik looms large. (Tip: Most planes crash during the first 30 seconds of landing or taking off. I count to 30 when we take off, and know statistically that we aren’t as likely to crash)
• Being mugged or robbed – My mom got pick pocketed twice in London. That I can handle. Having someone pull a weapon on me? Not so much. No one enjoys a good stab wound on vacation. Even Diane Von Furstenberg got robbed outside of the Thyssen Museum.
• Staying in hostels - This entitled American is not used to sharing, especially rooms with strangers. Including men.
• Meeting new people - I’m introverted by nature, so the thought of meeting nonstop strangers for three months is terrifying for me.
• Being unemployed when I get back – Spending a lot of money to be faced with no job makes me sick to my stomach.
• Eating by myself - I hate eating by myself in sit-down restaurants. Hate it. HATE it. I imagine I’ll be eating at the bar a lot.
• Carrying everything I need in ONE bag – I need to be able to pack a bag that I can comfortably carry on my shoulders for three months for clothes I can wear at pubs, the Opera and general sightseeing while in climates ranging from freezing (Iceland) to warm (Barcelona). In ONE bag.

What scares you?

My friend Cara was kind enough to get me a very generous iTunes card for my birthday and as a present that I could take with me on my travels. I’m pretty stunted when it comes to music, and the suggestions of iTunes can only take you so far. So I put it out to Twitter for new suggestions. I got recommendations on 36 new bands. Which is incredible for someone who has bought a total of 5 CDs in her life.

Hands down, the favorite thing I downloaded so far is Shadows from Au Revoir Simone. Julie described her as Grey’s Anatomy music, which is an apt description for the band and my music taste. With a little Gossip Girl soundtrack and some Jay Z, you’ve summed up my music taste. (But seriously, have you listened to Blueprint 3?) Some of the other great suggestions were Phoenix, Camera Obscura, Airborne Toxic Event, The Raveonettes, The Rosebuds, Barcelona, Mayor Hawthorne and White Denim.

Thanks Twitter!

Last Thursday found me in a sub shop with some of my guy friends when the Notre Dame/Michigan game came up. Now I’m prone to talk trash when it comes to the Irish. Even if I am woefully ignorant of how we’re supposed to do this season (does it matter though? pre-season rankings are a JOKE). So I made a bet. The last time I made a bet like this I ended up wearing a “I heart BYU” t-shirt to work. (Foreshadowing!)

I bet my friend Vikas that if Notre Dame won that he would have to wear one of my old Notre Dame t-shirts that I would kindly bedazzle for him. If Michigan won, I would have to wear Michigan tattoos on my cheeks. Our venue of choice was at Ignite Boulder full of 600 people. Oh, and I help check those people in.

Thank you Charlie Weis and the Irish. But shout out to Vikas for being a total classy winner as I’m not. I would have really rubbed his face in it.

I haven’t been this excited for a movie…since….I don’t know when. I just hope Dakota Fanning doesn’t ruin it, or I will wish a world of childhood star heroin addiction on her. Did that make sense? No, probably not. Neither did Dakota Fanning in the Twilight series. Then again, the previous actors didn’t actually act, so it seems to be tradition.

Erin & I before Beer, Brats & Symphony

I’m officially declaring August as the month of culture. I’m taking a mini-vacation in August in that I’ve decided to forgo all networking events, and am determined to get in as much culture and fun as I can. I’m kicking it off early today with tickets to Lucia di Lammermoor at the Central City Opera. Here’s what’s on the slate so far for August. If you’re up for any of these events, let me know!

Aug. 2 – Hamlet, Colorado Shakespeare Festival

Aug. 7 - First Friday Gallery Walk

Aug. 9 – Kings of Leon at Red Rocks

Aug. 11 – Picnic at Denver Botanic Gardens

Aug. 27 – Kooza, Cirque du Soleil

Aug. 28 – Absinthe & Arctic Caps, Mixed Taste Lecture series

I’m not exactly known for being on time, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that I’m five years late to the whole blogging party. I remember learning about blogs as an intern in 2003. At my next agency, I did a whole presentation on blogs as an entry-level employee to the entire staff. I was so nervous my knees were shaking under the table and people laughed about the idea of bloggers being important. Several years later we finally launched an agency blog, which was already fashionably late. I’d like to tell you it was a great blog, but reflecting back, it wasn’t what it could have been. The plus side is that I commented on my current bosses blog, and he commented on my blog, and then we met up for drinks. And then I ended up at Metzger. I can write for our agency blog whenever I want, but I’ve been craving a more personal forum. While I’m still devastated that Iwantapony.com is taken, I suspect the Art of Awkward more accurately describes me. I’d like to tell you Kanye West style, “You should be honored by my lateness.” But I suspect the Art of Awkward will be a blog that even a mother couldn’t love.