I amunapologetically obsessed with the daily feats of fabulosity by total strangers. No exaggeration; it’s my fuel for life. It’s usually an either/ or type of encounter. The fabulosity wielding person either directly possessses the “It” factor or is in possession of something tangible that conveys the coveted “It” factor for them as if they’re on fabulosity autopilot; so to speak. As some of you know; we’re opening up second office in Miami and I’ve been bi-coastal for almost 2 and a half months now. That’s why it’s taking me soooo long to post updates. Well in Miami everything besides their insane reckless driving moves very slow. If it weren’t for the slowest elevator I’ve ever waited on; I might have missed out on the ever elusive double dip of fabulosity! I met an absolutely beautiful super cool chick wearing the most beautiful pair of earrings ever! Besides “wanting” to instantly know ALL of her beauty and fitness secrets; I very much “needed” to know EXACTLY where she got those Holy Grail earrings. OMG the picture I’m including doesn’t even do them justice! They are literally multifaceted goddess-worthy creations. I will order my pair as soon as I get back from my next trip. I don’t want anyone, not even Mr. OpuluxeLtd.com™ to sign for the package. These are gonna be all mine. I can’t wait ’til I get them, They look so versatile. I imagine wearing them throughout the day and at night for dinner or an event. Anywho , I gave Ms. Fabulosity my business card and told her that besides needing to add a pair of those gorgeous earrings to my jewelry stash; I’d also love to interview her friend Noelani for OpuluxeLtd.comt™ in the near future. I went to nearby Lincoln Road Mall to jewelry shop and to specifically find a similar pair of earrings. I found absolutely nothing that compared to them. I impulse bought a small chandelier for our bathroom to temporarily appease my “bling” envy. I doubled back and returned it since the earrings are waaayy cuter. When I got back in I was checking my inbox and as promised I had received the contact information of the creator of the covet worthy jewelry. Her nane is Noelani and she’s based in Hawaii. She is the owner of Noelani Designs Shop. Each piece of her jewelry is a masterpiece. I mean really they are “Oprah’s Favorite Things” fabulous. If Oprah ever gives them out a big smack-down would break out on her show, because no-one wants “just one”. Obsession is the only word I have to describe my emotions after seeing the Noelani Designs collection. You can purchase her jewelry directly here. See below the beautiful Noelani’s Bio as well as a sneak peek into her lovely online store. Noelani also has a very nice blog on her website as well. It’s called Noelani Love’s Blog. Here is the link to her blog, right here. And a very special thanks to Ms. Fabulosity aka my newest fabu “friend in the head”. It was a pleasure meeting you. You have an impeccable sense of style and a great personality. It was very refreshing to find someone that genuinely supports and promotes her friend’s interests like that. Kudos! She was sooo proud a Noelani, and I’m pretty sure that Noelani is proud of her as well. Because Ms.Fabulous, –Okay her name is really Sherrin Bernstein and she has a lot of awesome projects of her own. She is the founder of Touch Fitness Informative Bodywork and Attract Essentials. Guess what she has another highly artistic friend. Unbelievable, is Sherrin some kinda real life muse or something. So check out her other very talented friend Lauran Childs. Click on the link to her website here. Lauran’s paintings are stunning. Her art work is my second newest obsession and it’s probably gonna be yours too!
If Facebook unveils its rumored e-mail platform, it may need to rethink how it handles and delivers user data—contact and otherwise.
Right now, Google and Facebook are in a war over contacts. If Facebook wants to import Google Gmail contacts through Google’sAPI, it has to let other services import Facebook contacts. No one was really talking about this lack of contact parity before Google made an issue of it, but now everyone wants to know which side will blink first. The truth is neither one of them is going to budge. Instead, Facebook may change the rules of the game.
If Facebook unveils full-blown e-mail with a Facebook.com e-mail address for all users, Google’s little hissy fit will suddenly look rather ridiculous. A Facebook e-mail system is actually a great idea. A half a billion members already use the social networking service as their primary means of inter-friend-relative-and acquaintance communication. This will simply give them a richer platform.
I hate the stories calling this development a “potential Gmail killer.” Why does each new advancement in an existing space have to displace something else? Could the Samsung Galaxy Tab “kill” the Apple iPad? Of course not. There really aren’t a lot of murderous products out there. Maybe the iPod (which didn’t kill all other MP3 players, but certainly turned them into zombies). In any case, whatever Facebook delivers would be exciting and useful for Facebook fans, but they won’t dump all their old e-mail accounts from ISPs, GMail, Hotmail, Yahoo, etc, just so they can live exclusively on Facebook.
A couple of years after I began using Gmail, I did, in fact, import all of my contacts from Outlook. I had to export them as a CSV file and then import them into Gmail. I didn’t do this so I could leave Outlook. My intention, instead, was to protect (read backup) my vast contact library, in case something happened to my system or I lost my job. (Yes, that Outlook account is on a work system).Google’s angry with Facebook because it sucks in those Gmail contacts (if you let it) to help quickly build up your friends list. There is no way for Gmail to suck contact info from Facebook. I have never imported Gmail contacts into Facebook because I like to keep my work and personal lives somewhat separate. I don’t know if there are people clamoring to import Facebook contacts into Gmail, but I suspect not—they can already communicate with them through Facebook’s simple messaging and chat systems.
A richer Facebook e-mail, with real e-mail management, folders, attachments, CC and BCC functionality could change that, but it won’t for me. If Google develops a new social platform (forget Buzz) to compete with Facebook, then perhaps people will want to migrate their Facebook contacts to Google GBook. However, Google recently said it wasn’t all that interested in building a Facebook style social network. Which brings us back to the core argument between Google and Facebook. Google lets you put in and take out contact info, and Facebook does not.
That’s actually not entirely true.
Facebook now lets you take almost everything out of the service and, to my mind undercuts (at least a tiny bit) Google’s core argument.
Much to my surprise, Facebook has finally turned on the eagerly-awaited “Download your Data” feature. It works pretty much as promised (see the slideshow to learn exactly how it works), you can download virtually everything you’ve posted onto the site in one neat-little zip file. Mine came down as a 4MB zip file. Compiling it took Facebook almost two hours. In it I found my wall postings back three years, photos, notes, events and every single message going all the way back to May 8, 2007. The Zip file unpacks into a mini, navigable web site, so it’s easy to click through to all your data goods. Yes, Facebook even includes a list of all your friends. See? Take that Google!
Wait. Hold on. It’s not quite that good.
Truth is, this is also where Facebook stumbles—quite badly. The list of alphabetized (by first name!) “Friends” is flat—meaning it’s not linked to anything. So you can’t click on a name to learn more about who they are, or even, at least, go back to the associated Facebook profile. In messages, Facebook highlights all the names in blue, but it’s just a trick—those names aren’t linked either. It ends up feeling a little bit like I moved out of my Facebook home with all my belongings and then Facebook moved away. I know it’s still there, but why isn’t anything linked?
I guess this approach make sense if you’re leaving Facebook for good, since you wouldn’t be able to access any of contacts anyway. Still, it sort of fails as a true data backup and definitely doesn’t encourage porting those Facebook relationships to another platform.
If and when Facebook introduces its mail system, this Download option could change. It could also be engineered right out of existence if, in fact Facebook really doesn’t want to share e-mail contact info. This attitude would make Facebook a pain, but I still don’t think Google is taking the right approach. I’ve always loved how Google strove to be the better online citizen. Google, stop complaining, keep your contact API open and let Facebook make the stupid contact mistakes.
This comes as no surprise to me as if you have a homepage set to the likes of Google, Facebook or anywhere else, it means guaranteed traffic for that site. Every time you open up a web page you will be giving someone traffic. Crazy when you think of the importance to all of these giants. Do you feel that Facebook have to offer more than just social media to be your homepage? i know that i can access anything i want with Google set as mine straight away.
Facebook will be doing this in the not to distant future so if you don’t want to set it be sure to click on the right choice! Will you be changing your homepage to Facebook ahead of the likes of Google? Let us know in the comments below.
We get a kick out of politics at Mambo Media, so we were thrilled to be asked to design online ad campaigns for an initiative on the November 2010 ballot in Washington State.
The client asked us to spend an equal amount of money on Google AdWords and Facebook Ads. And that was the beginning of the smackdown. Which platform is better for online advertising spend?
To answer this question, I focused on three priorities:
The chief goal of this campaign was to increase targeted voter familiarity of the initiative. Even if a voter only sees the ad briefly on the Facebook page sidebar, it’s an opportunity for him or her to learn the name of the initiative and associate it with the ad tagline and image.
At the end of the campaign, the Facebook ads had been viewed over 7.5 million times and the Google Ads had been viewed about 34,000 times. Yes, while spending an equal amount on each platform!
2. Clicks: Google is the Victor
While not a top priority, clicks were also important to this ad campaign. In some of the ads, we directed voters to the initiative’s Facebook page (and gathered many new Likers and commenters in the process), and other ads sent voters to the initiative website to learn more.
In the end, the Google Ads provided 2,080 clicks, with an impressive 6.06% clickthrough rate, and Facebook Ads resulted in 1,599 clicks (clickthrough rate: .02%).
3. Targeting: Facebook Prevails
Facebook Ads was the clear winner in precise demographic targeting. If we had wanted, we could have shown the ads to ONLY 36 year old men in Washington who were connected to the opposition’s Facebook Page!
So, Who Wins the Smackdown?
As is the case with all social media marketing, the best channel to use depends on the campaign goals. In this campaign, impressions (views) were the priority, which means that we can officially (and obviously) declare Facebook Ads the winner!
However, it’s worth mentioning that a campaign more focused on detailed education from clicks would consider the Google AdWords results to be superior – especially since their clickthrough rates were much higher.
In conclusion, if a client or your brand can’t afford both for testing, look to Facebook for impressions and to Google for clickthroughs. But keep in mind, if you have a niche product, cause or audience, the hyper-targeted nature of Facebook Ads will tip the scales.
What are your experiences with Google AdWords vs. Facebook Ads?
Christina says: “After I became a mom, I felt passionate about the fact that no child should go hungry. Food is not a luxury. This year, I became an ambassador for the United Nations‘ World Food Programme, which helps feed people in need and supports their self-sustainability around the world.”
Learn More: Learn what $1 a day can buy for a hungry child at fromhungertohope.com.
Go Social: Follow World Food Programme on Twitter and Facebook
Matt says: “We work with communities in developing countries to help them fund, design, and build their own water-supply systems. In the end it’s a really easy solution-but one that makes an incalculable amount of difference.”
Learn More: Visit water.org to donate, sign up for monthly updates, and learn how to spread the word about the global water crisis.
Courtesy DNA Foundation, Clint Spaulding/PatrickMcMullan.com/Sipa Press
Ashton says: “We formed DNA—which stands for Demi and Ashton—with the goal of eliminating sex slavery worldwide but first and foremost right here in the U.S. Our new Real Men awareness campaign takes aim at the people who support the slave trade: Because really, real men don’t buy girls.”
Learn More: Visit demiandashton.org to donate, write to your local elected officials, and volunteer to become a part of the DNA Advocacy Team.
Go Social: Follow the DNA Foundation on Twitter and Facebook.
Richard Corkery/NY Daily News/ Getty Images, Charles Eshelman/FilmMagic
Juliana says: “My friend Jenifer Estess, a theater producer, was diagnosed with the neurodegenerative disease ALS when she was 35. Jenifer and her sisters began Project A.L.S. in order to help further the cause of stem-cell research, and I believe it’s vital to finding a cure. So far we’ve had great success.”
Learn More: Visit projectals.org to donate, volunteer, or to learn how to host a fundraiser in your area.
Hugh says: “I’ve traveled with World Vision to Cambodia and Ethiopia. We encourage self-sufficiency by teaching people about microfinance and technology. When you give people the ability to help themselves, you make them feel like a worthy investment, and so they become one.”
Learn More: Visit worldvision.com to donate and sign up for updates on Hugh Jackman’s trips and the organization’s efforts around the world.
Taylor Swift & Musicares: Nashville Flood Relief Fund
Taylor says: “Nashville is the town I love the most in the world, and when the floods hit in May, many people in my community experienced significant loss. [The city] has recovered in the most incredible way, but there are still people here who are struggling to put their lives back together. I know we’ll get there, but it’ll take time.”
Learn More: Visit grammy.com/musicares to donate or learn how to throw a fundraiser in your area.
John Legend & Harlem Village Academies
Courtesy Harlem Village Academies, Frank Micelotta/PictureGroup
John says: “I work to raise funds for Harlem Village and schools like it, and most important, I mentor kids. I tell people: Find a school in your community and decide that those kids are not just somebody else’s kids. They belong to all of us.”
Learn More: Visit harlemvillageacademies.org for more information on teaching and volunteer opportunities and corporate matching programs.
Katy Maslow, left, and Ms. Inciarrano have created
many of their terrariums in glass containers they found at flea markets
and antique fairs. Within a year, the friends had amassed so many that
they decided to sell them under the name Twig Terrariums at the BrooklynFlea market in Fort Greene.
Ms. Maslow’s apartment in Midwood, Brooklyn, is
filled with her terrariums, arranged alongside other finds from flea
markets and antique fairs.
Credit: Robert Wright for The New York Times
A magnifying glass helps Ms. Inciarrano work in a
tiny terrarium. She and Ms. Maslow often use figurines in their
creations, including this painter seated at an easel.
Credit: Robert Wright for The New York Times
Katie Goldman Macdonald, a designer for Old Navy,
makes terrariums in her studio apartment in the Mission District in San
Francisco. She sells them through local stores, and to friends and
coworkers.
Credit: Drew Kelly for The New York Times
She prefers to fill her terrariums with succulents,
which she plants in pieces that are hand-blown for her by the glass
artist Evan Kolker in Oakland, Calif.
Credit: Drew Kelly for The New York Times
One of Ms. Macdonald’s terrariums. She described
making one as a sort of science experiment, albeit one conducted with
color, texture and visual composition in mind.
Credit: Drew Kelly for The New York Times
Every day, customers come into Sprout Home, a
garden store in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, asking about terrariums, said
Tassy Zimmerman, an owner. Sprout sells pre-made terrariums, as well as
all the materials necessary to assemble one.
Credit: Tony Cenicola/The New York Times
A hanging terrarium for sale at Sprout Home.
Credit: Tony Cenicola/The New York Times
A hallmark of Sprout’s terrariums are whimsical
touches like tiny birds.
Credit: Tony Cenicola/The New York Times
A little bit of greenery never hurt anyone – and from
what we’ve heard even the most die-hard brown-thumbed gardeners can do
pretty well with a small terrarium. It will add a touch of happy
hippie-chic to a modern room:
“They fit with the current infatuation with all
things old and scientific,” Ms. Macdonald said, “and this Victorian
idea of science as beauty and something you want to display in your
home.”
Just to put your mind at ease…terrariums have come a long way
since the 70’s. No more layers of multi-colored sand in the bottom!
And, please no gnome houses!!
photos via [Afrobella]
I absolutely HEART this big stunning goddess with the big spell
bounding voice, with an even bigger spectacular Afro! This Canadian
prima donna hails from the Maratimes. Marsha Brueggergosman has sung in
almost all of the major cities over the globe. She’s opened the seasons
of the Quebec Symphony, the Atlanta Symphony, and the San Francisco
Symphony, just to name a few. She is a soprano who is a free-lance
soloist ie. “hired gun” brought in to work with the world’s best
orchestras. Despite the fact that her glorious “once-of-a-lifetime” job
requires her to travel to the world’s greatest of cities and to perform
in the most luxe of venues in front of the highest echolen of classical
arts patrons; Measha never gives off the impression of being jaded. In
fact, her one low brow indulgence is reality TV, while my ONE highbrow
indulgence is opera!Lol. I strongly suggest that you check out Measha Brueggergosman and
find out when she will be performing in your city.
OPULUXE Lifestyle Design is A CREATIVE POWERHOUSE FIRM THAT SPECIALIZES IN EVENT PLANNING, LUXURY RENTALS & LIFESTYLE DESIGN. Come Shop to your heart’s content @ our online luxury boutique at www.OpuluxeLtd.com.
It’s not always easy being thrifty. For me, it means not indulging my purse obsession as much as I’d like, forgoing the pricey bottles of wine, and decorating my house with thrift-store finds. I usually don’t mind, but sometimes, a little encouragement is in order
And when the A/C does break, the rich people sweat just like the poor people sweat. The sun treats everyone the same. This is one of the lessons you learn out there on the desert, when you're not mastering leadership and contemplating how creativity can bourguignon-beef up your bottom line.
Share| Be the first in your friends to like it Monday, August 22, 2011 Taylor Swift Does It Again in Nashville BUYER: Taylor Swift LOCATION: Nashville, TN PRICE: $2,500,000 SIZE: 5,601 square feet, 4 bedrooms 4.5 bathroomsYOUR MAMAS NOTES: Country-pop singer/songwriter Taylor Swift may only be in her very early twenties but she’s amassed four […]
The hottest trend right now in my opinion is color blocking. While this may not be a new trend, it is definitely coming back in a big way! From clothing to accessories to even beauty, color blocking seems to be everywhere and I definitely am loving it more and more! You can create an entire outfit mixing and matching different colors and look like you just s […]
Yes, all of these ridiculous bowwow baubles are real. And yes, all of these canine luxuries will be used as fodder to incite the coming revolution. Dogs are not fashion accessories, and if you’re decking Fido out in frivolous finery, then you are dumb. Also: you’re either rich or bellybutton-deep in credit card debt. But mostly dumb. Read more…
Just about everyone has seen the various reality shows documenting people’s problems with hoarding. Or maybe you just know someone who has a ton of junk laying around the house and you’re worried that they’re heading for an appearance on one of those shows