There are a lot of fails in this pitch (no text…really?), but let’s just focus on the subject line which includes, “Please Tweet, Facebook, Blog, etc .” Aw, so sweet to include a smiley face. Of course I’ll blog this for you…and you know what? I’ll even cross out your info since you were kind enough to BCC me in your blast mail.

At the dinner table, just to the right of my spoon and below my glass of vino sits my fourth utensil. My phone.

My girl Jess from Seattle wrote a post today sharing some smart thoughts on location-based-apps like Foursquare and why the heck we check in. Her post features a photo of our friends, all on our phones, at a little dinner party last December.

It got me thinking about the role my phone plays in social settings – how the anxiety I used to get about having it out has eased up over the last year or so. Maybe because all the people who used to judge are now the offenders? Not sure. Anyway, as a communications professional by day, I’m the first to admit that there’s a time and a place for having your phone on the table whether meetings, meals or other social occasions. But…if you find you’re able to justify it without concerns, then why the hell not. When I’m with people who know me or fellow social media geeks, it’s expected and accepted. I love that.

While this goes against all those etiquette lessons my Grandma Babe taught me at a very early age, here are a few reasons why my phone belongs on the table in these “acceptable” occasions.

• The more the merrier. If it’s the kind of night that could benefit from adding more friends – make it easy to make things happen. Check-in or answer a text mid-dinner.
• Someone is probably running late and if it’s not me, I’ve got my phone out for one or two reasons – the inevitable ETA text and passing the time with Draw Something, Instagram or the app of the moment.
• The bartender has gone to all that trouble to make this drink look beautiful. Of course I have to be ready to take a pic (and then edit it with multiple photo apps before deciding if it’s worthy of sharing with one or more of my social platforms and/or tagging friends…sad but true).
• I don’t know what I want and I don’t trust the “specials.” Let’s look at the Foursquare tips or Yelp to see if anything stands out.
• Dear waiter, you don’t know this yet, but I’m a pretty good tipper. So, I have no hesitation in asking you to take a photo of our table. Help us savor the moment. And…because I know I’ll take good care of you, I also expect that you know the rule of “let me take one more, just in case.” After everyone analyzes if it’s Facebook approved, look at that – we’re geotagging photos and posting in real time…
• The food looks too pretty to eat. The only way we can enjoy is if we take a pic before the first bite…
• Email. Yep. Always on. Just how it is. Don’t tell though…oh wait…Damn.
• OMG did you hear what that guy just said at the table next to us?!? Must Tweet “OH…” (OH = overheard).
• Hold on – I’ll ask Urban Daddy where we should go next and then I’ll map it. I got you.

So yeah. To conclude, my friends and I are in our natural nerdy habitat when we’re comfortable enough to have the phone on the table. We’re multitaskers. Instead of interfering with our social interactions, it enhances them.

Special shout-out to Jess, Randazza, Daniel, Jax, Sara, Linds, Jaymee, Alix, Mollie, Carrie, Jenn, Anisa, Gabby, Jeni, (maybe Peter)…and the list goes on…and on…

This is good. I recently decided that due to my dramatic decline in television watching I would “break-up” with my cable provider and get a Roku. Rather than the $100+ monthly expenses of having two TVs that barely get used, I’d be looking at $70 for the box plus about $15/month for Netflix and Hulu Plus. Yes, this would mean I’d have to find other ways to see Game of Thrones and Mad Men. Trust me, it was a tough call.

So…a few weeks up and running with the Roku and about two dozen episodes streamed of How I Met Your Mother…and guess what happened? I accidentally threw away the remote control when I was cleaning my apartment. Dohhh! Just as I was about to purchase a new remote on eBay, I found out there’s an app for that! And it’s free! I know. It seems obvious now, but it honestly made my day. Thanks for thinking of airheads like me, Roku.

Photo credits: 9gag, iTunes

I’m pretty tolerable of the fashion/style choices of others. However, I think I’ve personally reached the tipping point with this one. Can we please say RIP to the cell phone belt clip? I saw a guy wearing one in the elevator yesterday and the “why???” inside my head kept growing to the point where I couldn’t even list an exception (hipsters are the only ones who even came close). I know…But they’re “convenient.” So are chums. I don’t care if you can bend it like, or if you are David Beckham. If you’re in tune enough to own a smartphone, keep it in your pants, guys.

That includes you, Obama. You too, Dad.

Photo credits (in order of appearance): New York Mag, Geek Sugar, What Would Jesse Do

As an NYC girl with a modest apartment, I don’t spend much time fantasizing about interior design or real estate, but this is pretty amazing. MISSONIHOME has collaborated with Century Properties to create its first residential innovation. Full of vibrant colors and prints, floating lights, sparkling crystals and geometric phenoms, it can be found inside a lux 52-story condo building (Acqua Livingstone) in the city of Manila in the Philippines.

While this is the first residential property collaboration from MISSONIHOME, there are also two Missoni-branded hotels in Edinburgh and Kuwait. Photos courtesy of Century Properties.