Last Thursday, I was invited to a great Spa Night event at the Acqualina Hotel in Miami. In case, you've never heard of it, the Acqualina is one of the nicest hotels in the country. I jumped at the opportunity to go. You can read my review of ESPA at Aqualina here.

But what I really wanted to talk about is what you WON'T read in the review. How about I embarassed myself YET again!!!! Here's the story--

I decided to wear a peach colored linen suit with either a black or white tank under. I couldn't decide which. And whichever color tank I wore, I wanted to pull my hair back with the same color headband. One of the elastic stretchy ones.

I kept exchanging the tops and headbands, not able to decide which I wanted to wear. Finally, I decided on the black tank, but then I couldn't find the black headband. I had JUST had it 2 seconds before. I thought it was on the bed. I looked on the bed. I looked beside the bed. I looked under the bed. No black headband. And it was time to go, so i simply switched tanks and put on my white headband and headed out. Mind you, I was standing in front of a FULL LENGTH mirror the entire time.

So anywho, I get to the Acqualina, valeted by car and went in and introduced myself to the very nice man at the front desk. He went to get my contact and while I waited, I took pictures of the lobby. When my contact came, a very lovely young woman named Jessica, she escorted me into the Relaxation Room to begin the experience. I have to say, ESPA was nice! It is probably the nicest spa I've ever been in. It's 20,000 sqare feet spread over 2 floors of pure luxury. The event was pretty swanky too. I was rubbing elbows with the creme de la creme of Miami. It was great.

I was so impressed that on the way home, I called FOJ Monique to gush about it. I told her every detail. I planned to go back next month. I came in to get undressed and THAT's when I discovered it!!!! Do you know that I had that black headband on all the time--AROUND MY NECK????? I was mortified!!!! How could I have worn that around my neck the entire time?? And I didn't even notice how HOT my neck was until I took it off. I had used it for a sweatband!!!! Do you think anyone noticed?? Do you think that they thought it was a new fashion trend?? If you happen to see women wearing headbands as chokers now, please know that I started it.

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Last week, I eluded to big news coming up. Well, it's official--I've gotten my first paid writing gig. I'm so excited to share this with you. It was only last New Year's Eve that I performed and self examination, as well as a lot of reflection, and decided that what I really wanted to do with my life was write. The very next day, I started this blog. Now, mere months later, I have become the Miami Fashion and Style Examiner for Examiner.com.

Examiner.com is website that focuses on local news, written by local writers. While it's certainly not the Washington Post, I'm glad they bought me on board.

I will cover South Florida from a girly perspective and everytime I think about it, I just giggle! Please do me a great favor and check out my page. There's only 1 article published, as I had to wait for it to be reviewed and accepted, before the page became live. There will be many new articles coming up. While I won't publish daily, I'm required to keep the content fresh, new, and timely.

This is different from my blog in a huge way. While my blog is comprised of my personal opinions, Examiner.com is focused on fact-based articles--more like news. I've added a button on the sidebar to make it easier for you to find me in the future. Let me know what you think!

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I post daily. So that you don't miss any of my randomness, you might want to subscribe by email.

Some exciting things are happening in my professional life! I can't share a lot right now, but I should be making a huge announcement in the next week or so.

If things go as planned, I should be spending a lot more time working from home. And while that can be a blessing, a few years ago I worked exclusively from home, with my office and boss being about 1200 miles away. While I certainly enjoyed the autonomy that such an arrangement brings, I did have a few issues with it.

First of all, I found myself longing for human contact after a few months. I did have a lot of phone contact, as well as client appointments, but most days were spent sitting at my desk, with only my radio for company. Believe it or not, it was lonely. The second issue was that even though I had a legitimate job, earning legitimate income--folks always thought that I had an hour to chitchat on the phone with them or that they could just drop by and I wouldn't be "busy." They didn't seem to realize that even though I was at home, I still had things that needed to get done and I wasn't just shooting the breeze.

Recent studies suggest that employees working from home actually get MORE done than those in the office, contrary to popular belief. I tend to agree--when you go to work, you have set hours and most of your work is done in those hours. When you work from home, you tend to start earlier and work later, as well as many weekend hours.

What do you think? Do you work from home? How productive are you? Do you know someone who works from home? Do you take advantage of their situation, by asking them to pick up your kids from daycare or go check on your sick pet?

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It was on this day, 40 years ago, that Neil Armstrong became the first man to set foot on the moon. It was widely believed that, at some point in the future, people would live on the moon. I'm not sure about you, but this notion is not appealing to me at all. I wouldn't want to live in Idaho, let alone the moon.

I would, however, be glued to the television, should a colony of humans decide to set up camp on the moon. I would hope that they would set it up much like the tv show, Big Brother. That would bring new meaning to the term, "satellite tv." I'd love it.

How would they handle everyday occurrences--suppose the kids wanted to run away? Where do you run away to on the moon? Suppose you got a serious case of the munchies late at night? Would there be Taco Bell on the moon? Suppose you got invited to a party and needed something to wear? Would Macy's overnight a little black dress to you? This is how my mind works. I am always full of the "what ifs?" What if my Kindle didn't work up there? What if there was no internet? What if my husband couldn't find a job? What if there was no tiramisu????

What are your thoughts? Would you move to the moon? Why not?

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Have you noticed, lately, how many things can now be bought from vending machines? When I was growing up, soda machines were commonplace, as were newspaper and stamp machines. I remember the break room at my Mom's job that had revolving sandwiches. Now you can buy nearly anything from a vending machine.

Have you seen the machines in the grocery store that dispense movies? What about the machines in Macy's where you can buy Apple products, like iPods, and batteries? And the dispensers in airports that sell perfume?

Well, I've learned that Japan has the most unusual vending machines around. I'm told that you can purchase thing like umbrellas, fresh flowers, and porn from machines. I was able to picture those, but then I learned that you could also get fresh eggs, hot popcorn, beer, french fries, and hot ramen noodles. Wow! And we wonder where the jobs are going..

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I'm jealous of those folks on television that predict the weather. How come they are hardly ever right and get to keep their jobs? Why do we even need weather folks? What would happen if we didn't have them.

Right now, we listen to the weather report and take a chance on whether it's right. If I take my umbrella, it doesn't rain. If I don't, it pours. If we didnt have a weather report, we'd take that same chance. What's the difference?

From now on, I'm not listening to the weather. I'm going to use the time that the weather report is on to..to...to do something else. Something worthwhile. Like exercise. That's it. I will hit the MUTE button and exercise while the weather is on. Crunches. No--push ups. No--jumping jacks. Yes, I will do jumping jacks with my back turned to the television. That's the ticket. And, the number of them that I've done before I collapse will determine if it's going to rain. If I fall out on 3, which is likely, I will take my umbrella, because 3 is an odd number. If I come to and last number I remember is 4, which is even, I'll leave it at home. Same odds...

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Michelle O's commencement address over the weekend starting me thinking--What would I say to graduates if I were giving the keynote address? I think my message would be on the same vein as Michelle's--enjoy life, give back, and don't lose sight of what's important.

Enjoyment is key. Life is much too short and tomorrow is never promised, so live in the moment and see blessings in every circumstance. Don't forget those without whom you've couldn't have made it. Become that person to someone else. Know that being successful does not necessarily mean that you are wealthy. Don't get caught up in the pursuit of money and material things. Realize early that money has nothing to do with happiness. If it did, then Liz Taylor wouldn't have been married 32 times and Michael Jackson wouldnt have a rubber nose. Find things in life that make you happy--family, basketball, toy poodles, whatever! Find those things and enjoy. That's what it's all about!

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Lately, I've seen quite a few young women with glaring tattoos on their necks, arms, faces, and legs. Some don't even look like they were done in a reputable tattoo shop but rather done at someone's kitchen table. I always wonder what they are thinking.

These crude looking drawings and words detract from their appearance. What's wrong with looking decent and wholesome? How will having "Baby Girl" in Gothic Script under your ear go over in corporate America? Who will take you serious?

Am I just showing my age and not allowing our young people self expression? Am I not seeing the artistic value in this? Am I just an old fuddy duddy???

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2008 was NOT a stellar sales year for me, workwise. I didn't make nearly the bonus money that I did in 2007. Had I worked for AIG, though, I STILL could have made my bonus. I could have run my company into the ground, and still come out ahead. How cool is that???

I've been thinking about it since yesterday. So, I've decided that, starting today, I'm pursuing any and all job opportunities within AIG. I don't care what the position is, I'm applying. I may end up being the new CEO/COO or I could just be the new cleaning lady (Nobody can vacuum like me). Makes me absolutely NO difference. In fact, I'll work free all year, just so I can get my bonus at the end!

I realize that I'm too late to get a bonus this year--but I plan to be first in line next year! So, if anyone has any contacts within AIG, tell them that Jewel is available and willing to relocate, if need be. I will be on Linkedin, twitter, facebook, and everything else all day today looking for a way in. I'm going to be rich!

Your comments--priceless!