This collage of wants from Zappos.com should speak wonders for how diverse I am
It’s no secret I’m a big fan of Zappos.com – mostly because I have this little thing known as buyer’s remorse where I buy everything I want and then realize I’m a freelance writer with an extremely modest salary so returning it would be the responsible thing to do. The thing with Zappos.com is that you can return things (for free) and shipping is free. So it makes my buyer’s remorse thing easy to deal with, except I end up keeping it all anyways. I put together a quick and dirty list of what I want this Christmas – seriously, if you have extra Santa dollars in your pocket and you want to buy me any of these, that’d be more than welcomed. Or of course, use my favorites and go shopping for someone in your life you’ve actually met before… The Blonde Side’s Christmas Wish List from Zappos.com:
Because my future’s bright, these Eagles green Ray-bans would be amazing.
I spend enough time in airports (262 days in a hotel just in 2014), my feet should look amazing, be comfortable and stay warm, so these Uggs in the port color (almost Florida State garnet if you will…) are perfect. Size 6 please.
I don’t know about you, but I plan to make A LOT of money in 2015, so I need somewhere to keep it all. This Kate Spade wallet (color warm putty) would be perfect.
Some crazy person somewhere said you can’t look good while sweating. I wholeheartedly disagree, so I’d like these Nike (in black) running tights to prove you wrong.
I’m not a big jewelry person – either statement earrings or rings and why not keep it local with these Kendra Scott earrings in cobalt blue?
Because even on December 25th, bikinis are always in style, especially l*space bikinis.
If my future’s bright, my skin better be too. I love Bliss products, so imagine how much I’d love this Bliss let it glow set.
Did someone say party? Oh, no? Ok, let’s plan one. This would be the perfect little black dress.
I plan to push myself to the limits in the New Year, but a girl’s gotta relax, right? These ALO Verge Sweatpants are amazing (I have them, I want more).
Keeping up my fitness goals in 2015, and these New Balance foam fresh have never let me down. Too many miles on my last pair, time for new ones!
My overall goal in 2015 is this: BE HAPPY. Being happy means I plan to smile a lot, so I’ll need this Butter lip gloss to make that smile even prettier.
https://theblondeside.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/IMG_8380.jpg19361936Jaymehttps://theblondeside.com//wp-content/uploads/2018/06/1526998321020-300x192.pngJayme2014-12-17 23:13:242014-12-28 00:48:42Zappos.com Holiday List
How was I so sure? Because the jackass did the same thing to me recently. After reading the article I immediately sent this tweet – “Funny I reported this Steve Lepore BS months ago TO his editor at USA Today & she tweeted snark back to me.”
Curiosity got the best of me so I looked back at past emails and tweets and realized my own personal situation with Lepore took place NOVEMBER 2013 – more than a year ago. Has he been treating people like shit and soliciting pictures using his sports gig as a way in for an entire year hiding behind a Twitter handle without cause for concern?
I find it grossly ironic that I had brought this to the attention of not only the Twitter world, but his editor (at the time) at USA Today Sports and got nothing back. Actually, even worse, the exact second I hit send on the email detailing my issues and run-in’s with Lepore, the same editor RT’ed some of his nasty tweets about me. Tweets making fun of me and other nonsense completely downplaying my career. Yes folks, The Blonde Side is my career. I devote countless hours researching athletes and coming up with new angles, pitching editors, networking and making connections, keeping up to date on some of my favorite writers recent work. It’s work, I promise. And in one fell swoop, Lepore and his editor discredited everything I had worked for, all because of a backstory of me not wanting to tweet-flirt with the creep.
The sad (and yet simultaneously cool) thing about having a Twitter bio fueled by “writer for USA Today Sports,” is that you kind of have a built-in posse salivating at your every tweet. The moment you say attack – they’re on it – all for the simple and basic hope you’ll shout them out on social media for a brief moment of solidarity. (Can I get a RT for my birthday!?)
While I can’t speak to what Lepore is like in real life, I can speak to what his faux-balls and power as a writer at a highly regarded publication made him in the Twitterverse – a complete jackass with a bunch of lemmings ready to crucify you just because he gave the go-ahead. Hockey fans are intense, and if one of their beloved writers says to go after you, well that’s exactly what they do not even knowing the backstory.
Because there is a backstory.
My conversations with Lepore started just like every other one with a sports fan/potential creeper – we start following and RT’ing each other, then we progress to try and outwit one another with our regionally biased sports trivia and banter, and then out of nowhere they inevitably get that urge to send a direct message – a private message no one else is privy to.
Since this wasn’t my first rodeo with a not-so-good-looking guy with a stellar vocabulary and exceptional use of oxford commas, I knew his game – he’d start by telling me how rare a pretty girl into sports was and how much he loved my column and if he could ever be of assistance to let him know. My response as always was pleasant and appreciative, but I left it alone.
His direct messages quickly became more frequent and flirty and I started to taper back. After all, I’m not a huge hockey fan and he wasn’t all that entertaining. Truth be told, I never read his work. He started commenting about my Instagram photos (yes, he’d send a tweet to talk about Instagram, which is Creeper 101…) and how I should show more cleavage. I was too pretty not to show more. When would I be in his area? If I get you an interview with my editor, can we hang out? When can I teach you all about hockey – we need pretty girls like you covering hockey. How come you only post a bikini picture every few weeks? Why not more? What’s your favorite thing to wear?
It got annoying. It got creepy. I may be single, but I wasn’t interested.
Yup, this is him.
And then it happened. I unfollowed the schmuck. I’ve watched enough Lifetime movies to know it wasn’t pretty once you block a number or click unfollow, but I did it.
I had to – he was that annoying. And wouldn’t you know that very same day he took to Twitter (this time in a public forum) to try and call out one of my previous tweets. He took to a handful of messages (some he eventually deleted and karma-loving enough now he has deleted his entire account since whistleblower Toni M. called him out, which eventually led to his firing) of telling me my “job” wasn’t real and that I didn’t know what I was talking about.
Totally fine, you’re entitled to your (wrong) opinion…
He then resorted to saying that any girl who says she loves football (i.e. me) was just a t-shirt fan and in it to find a husband. All very insulting things, then he’d RT my original tweet with a rude message so his basement loving vultures would come after me. He would @ me and say “girls pretending to work in sports,” and just wait for his “pals” to tear into me. And then other USA Today Sports writers would chime in on his behalf. Honestly, it was one of the few times I’ve felt bullied and disrespected, and this all coming from someone who was simply butt-hurt I didn’t want to play the DM game with him.
Don’t get me wrong – I can handle ridicule. Hell, it’s basically been a part of my life since I learned to tie my shoes. But the part that really sucks is I debated long and hard to reach out to my acquaintances at USA Today Sports and whether or not to send an email to his editor. I mean, I did want to pitch a few freelance ideas to this same editor, so I didn’t want to be that tattle-tail girl. In the end his unprofessional behavior deserved to be called out and perhaps looked into. But to my knowledge, it wasn’t.
Quite frankly, USA Today Sports should have been ashamed that one of their employees, a grown man, had to be BLOCKED from another adult.
I’m glad other women felt the need to call him out and it finally led to his dismissal. I do believe in Freedom of Speech and not everyone has to agree with everyone by any means, but to put a bounty-tweet on another human when you know your ravaging fans will be relentless on your behalf is just nonsense. And all because I didn’t want to get all cuddly and talk about photos with you?
It may be Twitter, but the computers and mobile devices that Twitter lives on still exist in real life.
Imagine if this had been a more serious issue that was ignored by so many. Sure makes you think…
[Updated 12/2 12:25p]: Since the world wide web is always full of controversy and speculation, I wanted to rephrase who the “she” was in reference to Lepore’s editor – I realize there are many “she’s” at USA Today Sports, so please don’t assume. She may have been interim, in charge of particular stories/assignments, or just in general over social media since that was my complaint. Heck, my email could have been buried in an inbox for all I know (but the tweets sent by her certainly did not). I applaud USA Today for letting Lepore go and for all the other women who stood their ground, unfortunately this kind of behavior happens a lot more than people realize.
https://theblondeside.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/047f9de.jpg200200Jaymehttps://theblondeside.com//wp-content/uploads/2018/06/1526998321020-300x192.pngJayme2014-12-02 01:12:002014-12-02 13:51:32Told Ya So: Steve Lepore Creeper
Make the holidays happier with these champagne marshmallows
Today is Small Business Saturday and I wouldn’t be much of an online presence if I didn’t share info of one of my favorite online shops (a brand new one), which also happens to be local to Houston – Manor.
One of my favorite suggestions this holiday – whether for purchasing a few boxes to pass around the office as thank you gifts or to clients at year-end hoping to strum up more business, for stocking stuffers, or even better FOR YOURSELF (especially if you have company coming during the holidays) are these tasty small packs of flavored marshmallows.
There is a holiday pack, as well as about 10 different flavors – click here to see all the options. AND get 25% off your order by using code: blondeside25.
I promise this will make your hot chocolate the best you’ve ever had. Unless of course you could drink the same hot chocolate in my favorite ski town of Aspen, then that would be the best hot chocolate you’ve ever had, but you get the point…
(My personal order of LOVE for these flavors goes like this: s’mores, champagne, bourbon, Guinness – and I still need to try the others.)
The 25% code (blondeside25) is good for all of Manor’s site – there are some truly unique gifts on there at all price levels, so take a peak and enjoy. Happy Holidays!
https://theblondeside.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/IMG_1434.jpg25923888Jaymehttps://theblondeside.com//wp-content/uploads/2018/06/1526998321020-300x192.pngJayme2014-11-29 08:19:082014-11-28 16:25:19Marshmallows for the Win
I am SO bummed they don’t come in a size small (which is odd because the NFL keeps tooting its horn that 50% of NFL fans are female and we ALL know females love theme parties the most), but I digress.
If you’ve got an ugly Christmas sweater party this season, get yours here – you’ll be the talk of the town.
Which one do you think is the ugliest? Or the funniest? The Alabama one looks legit (even though it’s still Alabama…).
Got a Texans fan in your life? As holiday shopping is approaching, I thought I’d help you out by sharing Fanatics.com, where A TON of Texans (and other college and pro) licensed apparel is on sale. Ladies, Mens, Children, dogs – they’ve got it all.
Jingle BALLS – Houston’s best holiday part/charity event
The date has been set for our third annual Jingle BALLS – mark your calendars for Thursday, December 11 from 7-10:30 pm at Gage Lounge in Midtown.
The Blonde Side is SUPER excited to announce this year’s co-host as Morgan ‘Moe’ Dean, former Texans cheerleader and just all around awesome gal (and yes, she’s blonde too!).
Admission to get in: please bring one (or more!) balls to donate to the Ronald McDonald House Houston. This has been our charity partner all three years because they have been able to happily use every dollar and ball we’ve donated in the past to their Santa Store. The Santa Store is a room where parents can pick out gifts for their sick children as well as their siblings, since holiday shopping usually isn’t on their mind during these tough times.
Dress code: no strict dress code, but we want it to be fun! Come in your favorite football gear, add some glam, slick back your hair or whatever, and come on!
Drinks: two complimentary drinks, specials TBA & lite bites
Saturday was my last day attending Wanderlust Austin and I’m truly sad to leave the new practices I’ve learned and the new friends I’ve made.
I started off the day by attending Chelsie DiPaolo’s Flow & Float, Yoga on a Boat class. DiPaolo teaches with such ease and authenticity, you’d wish she lived in your city to lead your daily practice. This early morning session was a great way to show the non-locals just how active our city is. The trail around Lady Bird Lake was heavily occupied with runners and walkers and the lake was filled with rowing teams perfecting their own fitness practices.
Next up was Meditation 101, led by Ashley Turner, where we “flexed the muscle of focus.” The class had a good mix of hardcore meditators and first-timers (myself included). The session took place on the outside deck, the highest place of Wanderlust Austin, offering up a pretty awesome vibe and view of the surrounding city.
“Look 360 degrees around and really take it all in,” Turner instructed. Having taught yoga for 15 years, and going back to get her Masters in Psychology, it was clear that diving in and going deeper was something very familiar to Turner. She’s a nurturer for understanding things (and people) in life, and rightly so.
“Meditation is about getting into a relationship with our minds,” she said. When she meditates, Turner said, it’s her way of sharpening her tools and banking her much-needed self worth for those times when life throws you a curveball. Because we all know curveballs are an inevitable part of life.
My last, and perhaps favorite, class of the festival was Hip.Hop.Yoga with instructors Ashley Clauer and Jo Kutchey.
When any soundtrack starts with The Fugees’ Killing Me Softly, I’m a BIG fan. Add to that a unique yoga practice from two of the most awesome chicks in Austin along with the option to add your own elements, style, and pace, and you just may have found your “true north.” Which is what we were are all after, right?
The past three days at Wanderlust Austin have taught me a lot. Not just about yoga and the sense of community it fosters, but about myself, my limitations and my goals in life. A big thanks to all my new friends and mentors. I’m excited to keep up my practice during my travels and when I arrive back home in Houston.
Hope to see some of you next year and at Wanderlust O’ahu!
This post originally ran online at Austin Fit Magazine. Check it out there to see more photos and links.
The Blonde Side’s Jayme Lamm with former NFL player Keith Mitchell
Things are getting real.
I started Day 2 with Wanderlust co-creator Schuyler Grant’s Kula Flow: Hips, Hearts & Hands class. Kula is Grant’s signature style of yoga that integrates the breath-based flow of Astanga yoga with the precision of Iyengar to create a deep, sweaty (ok, super sweaty), transformative mind/body experience.
Her signature style is a pretty big deal. The 10 a.m. class was filled to max room capacity.
Grant uses instructions like “use full imagery,” when talking about movements, body parts, and breathes as well as cues like, “surrender completely,” which is a popular mantra in all practices of yoga. Grant was hands-on as she went around the room, showing participants what ‘surrendering completely’ actually meant.
“How high you go is up to you,” was my favorite line during Grant’s session as it’s not just applicable to yoga, but to all of life. And the class was set perfectly to the chill tunes of DJ Taz Rashid, who was stationed in front of the class.
Next on my schedule was the crazy popular AcroYoga for Beginners classtaught by Mateo J. Daniel, with tunes by Happy Happy James. AcroYoga is clearly a thing all over the world, and yogis are chomping at the bit to learn the basics. By the end of the class, many had found themselves as stable bases (on the ground) while others were happy and willing flyers (in the air). This practice illustrated the importance of trusting and communicating well with your partner.
What quickly became clear in this class was that each person has their own style and limitations. And that’s okay. In fact, that’s what a good practice entails—learning your own style and moving along and growing with it. Another vital life lesson: “It’s important to come home, come back to center and sit back up, ready to do it again.” Sure, Daniel meant yoga, but it applies to so much more.
I’m pretty confident every attendee of this class was more than ready to do it again. The class was a great bonding experience.
Next up was my personal zen moment taught by former NFL player Keith Mitchell for FOCUS: Foundation and Expression. Have I let the cat out of the bag that I’m more of a runner than I am in tune with yoga practices? Because if not, now’s a good time to make sure we’re clear on that.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY JAMES GUIRY, WANDERLUST AUSTIN
Dare I say it? Keith Mitchell may have made me believe in (and perhaps become obsessed with) the potential of yoga. After class Mitchell scolded me for not informing him I was just in the beginning stages of my own personal yoga practice. “You would have been my [class] favorite,” Mitchell told me as he talked about his love for teaching others.
One of the songs on his playlist went something like this: “I am not the mistakes I have made. I am not the things that caused me pain.” This song played as we went into Savasana—the lying down, meditative state that ends a yoga practice. I’m not sure I’ve ever felt a more zen moment.
I don’t mean to compare religion to yoga because I take religion very seriously, but I feel it’s an accurate emotional parallel. When I go to church and get inside my own thoughts—my prayers, being truthful to myself about myself—it’s an un-earthly, cleansing feeling. And that’s how I felt during Mitchell’s class. I felt like it was a personal moment where I could forgive myself and feel renewed and cleansed and free to just start over. Every breath felt like a new moment in life, and I was reminded that it should be treated as such.
Afterwards, I took a brief peak into the class Rock n Roll Flow with Vinnie Manno to see what all the hype was about. Because, who doesn’t love Rock ‘n’ Roll?
“There’s a moment when you switch your perspective—when you’re more into feeling than thinking,” Manno said.
I finished off the long and soulful day with Kurt Johnsen’s Workout and Wine Down, which of course featured a wind down from all your practices session followed by a glass (or two) of wine. Johnsen is the host of Yoga for Life on Z Living TV, so crowds and cameras are his thing.
Stay tuned for my last post from Wanderlust Day 3 tomorrow (the festival officially ends on Sunday) and follow my adventures on Twitter: @jaymelamm.
This post originally ran online at Austin Fit Magazine. Click here to see the original post with more Wanderlust Austin photos.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY JAMES GUIRY & CHETAN PATEL, WANDERLUST AUSTIN
Finding your true north – it’s probably easier said than done, but it’s most certainly a journey.
I am by far one of the most athletic people in my group of friends. I’m not tooting my own horn—it’s the truth. And I work hard for it. But being at Wanderlust Austin for the kickoff events on Thursday, I realized that “most athletic” doesn’t mean most flexible or healthiest or most centered or most at peace with my body or life. It just means I’m athletic. And I’m probably missing a bunch of those 1 percents that make up one’s true north.
Thursday was a short day, but it started with an amazing açai bowl from Blenders and Bowls. It seems that’s how pretty much everyone’s day started.
I take pride in calling myself a runner, but I’ll be honest – sometimes it just sucks. So if someone was going to tell me in two hours why it doesn’t have to suck, I was game. As a former college athlete, running was our punishment and Chris McClung (a former soccer player himself) totally got that. It was interesting to hear his journey from a wannabe runner to now well-established coach.
“We are born to run,” McClung said, as he related running form to stories of his three children. “We’re are all runners at our core,” he said, mostly targeting us naysayers who wouldn’t necessarily classify ourselves as runners.
I don’t consider myself a very good runner, but can I still call myself a runner? According to McClung, yes I can.
A few highlights from McClung’s morning clinic:
There are 3 things that need to lead your runs: Purpose, Community and Variety. Ask yourself why you are running? McClung said running just to lose weight isn’t a good reason or purpose. Good reasons, he said, could be: competitive drive, connectivity to nature, a de-stressor, or bonding with friends. Those are things that give you a purpose and keep you going.
A runner for 14 years, McClung admits it took him five years to fall in love with the activity. It certainly wasn’t love at first sight, especially for us former collegiate athletes. “I encourage you to find others to help with the accountability. Try joining a running club.”
McClung had a great response to those who think running is boring. “Running is only boring if you make it boring.” That’s where adding variety to your running routes or trails comes into play. McClung warns not to run the same loop over and over again as it gets monotonous.
STFD: Slow the **** down. When we run too fast, we tire too fast and lose interest. Simple.
In running, leave your ego behind. For me, I need to realize I’ll never be that amazing softball player again and that I may not be as good at running as I was at softball. And I need to be OK with that.
“Slow” is a bad word—there are only degrees of fast. “After all, you’re still running faster than anyone sitting on the couch,” McClung said.
Liz Davis is one of those people who simply exudes happiness. Even her wild hair looked happy. She was awesome. Whatever it took to make her so happy, I wanted to learn it, so I dove right in. Davis told us right off the bat that her father always said, “you need four hugs a day for maintenance and ten for personal growth.” So guess what we did a lot of during our hike?
That’s right, hugging.
Throughout the hike, Davis instructed us to “live in the now,” citing how easy it really is to do, even in our own cities. She told us we were going on a sacred, confidential walk and then asked us to pair up with a partner.
Her advice to us on the hike: Be present.
One of the first questions Davis asked my hiking partner and I was, “When’s the last time you felt real joy?” I told my new friend it was last summer when I picked up and moved to Hawaii to write a book. I told them how much better of a person I had become and how it had allowed me to forgive myself for things and learn more about myself. Then my partner said something pretty incredible: “My advice to you—since you can’t go to Hawaii everyday—is to do more Hawaii things in your everyday life.
How simple, yet genius.
Davis ended the session by reminding us all that, “It’s never too late to live your life.” A huge group hug ensued.
Other Highlights from Day 1 of Wanderlust Austin
The tents and shopping outdoors. I was a big fan of all the discounted Spiritual Gangster apparel and the free chair massages offered by Z Living to help us recoup after our sessions.
Friday is a big day for my schedule, so check back here for Day 2 Diaries. Thanks for reading, and Namaste Y’all.
This post ran online at Austin Fit Magazine. Click here to see the original article with more great photos.
As of right this second (I guess depending on where you live in the world and time zones and all that), there are 68 days left in 2014.
It’s crazy, because over the past few weeks I have heard multiple times, “Starting next year I’m going to ___,” or “My New Year’s Resolution will be ____” and I kind of want to punch these people (gently of course) in the throat.
What’s wrong with the 68 days still left to be lived before the new year actually kicks off?
A lot can happen in 68 days. It’s too early in the morning for me to do any research, but I would imagine you could lose a bunch of weight and develop some intense abs, you could start eating clean, you could save up a few bucks, you could start volunteering at a local charity, you could donate old clothes, you could start smiling more, you could be nicer, you could take cooking classes – those all seem to be reasonable things you could do in the next 68 days. There is no need to wait. I sound like an infomercial right there, but it’s true dammit.
I’m not a numbers girl, but I am. That probably doesn’t make much sense. As in, I am not good at math, especially fractions and percentages and such, but if you put a number in front of me in the form of a goal or “days left,” then I’m on it.
So here is my promise and my challenge to you. I’d LOVE to hear what goal you set for yourself in the remaining 68 days of 2014.
I’ll start – my year end goal is to find a literary agent or publisher to get my book out. I made a HUGE leap to pick up and move to Hawaii last summer to write a ridiculously funny memoir (honestly, Chelsea Handler may offer me a job as her ghost writer once she reads it), but if I’m being honest, I haven’t worked very hard to find an agent.
So the quote above is extremely applicable to yours truly – never hope for it more than you work for it. I want my book to be published more than you could ever imagine, so it’s time to get to business and get it done. As I’ve said since day one: it’s too good not to.
Now it’s your turn – comment here with your goal. I’d love to hear it – no matter how big or small it is – remember, 68 days is still a lot of time left on the clock.
https://theblondeside.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/131498-Never-Hope-For-It-More-Than-You-Work-For-It.jpg640640Jaymehttps://theblondeside.com//wp-content/uploads/2018/06/1526998321020-300x192.pngJayme2014-10-24 05:58:272014-11-19 10:59:3868 Days: My Year End Goal
