Yes, I can cook (kind of)

Everyone in my life seems to think I can't cook.

I think it all started the night I had a little too much wine and attempted to bake cookies. In my hazy, slap-happy state, I pulled out two stacked cookie sheets  and started rolling balls of dough out without realizing it. Once my amused audience saw my error, it was all over - and thus, the perception that I can't cook, bake or pretty much do anything of value in the kitchen was born.

Now, although I enjoyed cooking for myself while away at college and in my own apartment, I find myself feeling a bit self conscious in the kitchen, especially when in front of others. Is that the right way to chop an onion? Is there a secret to browning chicken that I'm missing? Is this even the way you're supposed to wash dishes?

So as you can imagine, when I found out a won a cooking class as part of a raffle I entered on a whim, I felt like someone upstairs was trying to give me a little hint. To be sure I truly got the most out of this experience, I took my biggest kitchen critic with me - my boyfriend - and faced my fears.

Mimosa in-hand, I learned to make a variety of unique dishes I likely would have never ventured out to make on my own. As part of the Be Spoke Cuisine group cooking class in Chicago, we made:

• Crab-stuffed mushrooms
• Bloody mary gazpacho soup sips
• Green goddess dip, served with sliced veggies
• Salmon, goat cheese and asparagus frittata
• Banana and nutella crepes (pictured above)

The crab-crab stuffed mushrooms were easier to make than I thought, the frittata absolutely out-of-this-world, and the crepes comparable to some of the best I've had (including in Paris). Plus, I feel like I picked up a few good tips. For example, did you know when you stuff mushrooms, you're supposed to carve out the tentacles and scoop them clean like little bowls? It not only makes more room for the stuffing, but tastes a little cleaner too, since the tentacles are the 'shrooms' natural filtration system.

See? I'm learning. :) And crossing off my 25 by 25 list at the same time.

It was super fun, and I would totally go again - although it's likely a bit out of my price range when I'm not winning it in a raffle.

What's something you need to face? How do you plan to face it?

5 social media happenings you should know about

Social media is my life - it's part of what I do every day. Here are a few items in the SoMe world that amused and informed me today:

1. Obama slow jams for student loans. I'm sure you've seen this by now, but I'm so in love with it I had to share again.



2. Jay-Z launches "Empire" Facebook game. Go from "hustler to entrepreneur to business mogul," just like Jay-Z. Players earn points so they, too, can rise from the NYC projects to Manhattan riches.

3. "Eat It, Don't Tweet It" music video. To that person that shares everything they consume via Instagram, this one's for you.



4. Females are protesting Facebook. A petition with more than 53,000 signatures was delivered to Facebook's headquarters in NYC today demanding that a female be added to the company's all-male board of execs. Not sure this one is totally warranted, but hey - I'm all for girl power.

5. Google launches 'Google Drive.' In an effort to stay relevant despite the epic fail of Google+, Google has launched a new online content management service to help store photos and other items.

Happy tweeting!

The class of 2012 is in luck

Apparently the class of 2012 is in luck. According to a recent article on the Huffington Post, this year's graduating class of seniors is expected to fare much better than the class of 2011 (and us old folks from 2012) due to businesses anticipating an increase in hiring new college graduates, particularly in the fields of computer science, finance and engineering.

Sorry, PR hopefuls - it's still a tough world out there. According to a report by Challenger, Gray & Christmas, the top eight jobs for new college graduates include:

1. Financial Analyst - Projected growth of 20 to 28 percent; median pay of $55K to $75K
2. Cost Estimator - Projected growth of 29+ percent; median pay of $55K to $75K
3. HR, Labor & Training Specialist - Projected growth of 20 to 28 percent; median pay of $35K to $55K
4. Computer Systems Analyst -  Projected growth of 20 to 28 percent; median pay of $75+
5. Info Security Analysts, Web Developers & Computer Network Architects - What does this even mean anyways?
6. Marketing Research Analyst / Marketing Specialist - Projected growth of 20 to 28 percent; median pay of $55K to $75K
7. Management Analysis - Projected growth of 20 to 28 percent; median pay of $75K+
8. Child, Family & Social Workers - Projected growth of 20 to 28 percent; median pay of $35K to $55K

Just out of curiosity, I looked up the outlook for a PR professional - Projected growth of 22 percent over the next eight years and a median pay of $52,00 to $57,550. (Don't let that salary fool you - it's NOT entry level.)

Hindsight, would I choose a major based on an industry's employment outlook? Probably not. I'm a firm believer that with the right work ethic, humility and determination, you can make any career yours - even something in communications/PR when the industry has never been more competitive. 

Still, considering the state of the job market when choosing your major may play more of a role than it used to - especially with a scarier-than-ever transition to the real world after graduation.

What do you think? Did you choose your major based on the job market? A potential salary? Potential work hours? Or should majors be chosen solely based on personal interests?

Why it's hard being a millenial

This is one of sassiest infographics I've seen, so naturally, I wanted to share. Thoughts?


Created by: OnlineGraduatePrograms.com

Letting go

Last Friday morning, I woke up with a terribly itchy rash on my face. Probably too much information, but we're talking unattractive small, red bumps and a non-stop desire to scratch my face off - pretty much a girl's worst nightmare. Three days later, I'm in the dermatologist's office being told I'm having some kind of allergic reaction with a cause that's hard to pinpoint. Just the news I wanted to hear.

A good friend said it might be stress-related. I didn't believe her at first, because I'm pretty much always stressed out - until today, when I returned to work and the itching only got worse. Just three hours into my day, my list of flagged e-mails was long enough to scroll for days, my to-do list ever-growing and my face once again hot and itchy. Stress-triggered? Maybe not. But it surely wasn't helping.

So before I started feeling bad for myself (like I know we as human beings have a bit of a tendency to do), I realized that the fact that I was letting my work get to me that much truly wasn't healthy. While I love and take much pride in my career, I need to take a step back and realize that it cannot be my life. I need to let go.

"You can be who you choose to be. Whether you do or whether you don't depends on your priorities." 

So I think: who do I want to be? And what do I value in my life? I surely don't want to be someone who lets the worries and woes of my job carry over into my personal time. We give at least eight hours per day, five days per week to our jobs - don't we deserve the rest of that time for us?

Sure, there will always be busy weeks. But there are weeks we need to busy and weeks we need to let our work day end when we leave the office. My new challenge for myself is drawing that line more often.

I can feel the itchiness going away already.

How do you feel about separating your work from your personal life? What could you do in your daily life to help let go?

Friday faves

A few of my favorite pins from this week:

And of course, something to make you drool...

Happy Friday!