Whenever I meet someone new or are interviewing someone, they usually ask me, “What do you do? What is a typical day like for you?” I always tell them, every day is different, and it really is!

So I decided to share one of my days with Hilary’s followers, so you can all learn a little about me.

It all started early on a Wednesday morning. I am now working Wednesday’s at our NYC office for the next few weeks.

It was raining and I thought it would be smart to wear my rain boots. When I took them out of the closet one of the buckles was broken.

So I thought, easy fix, I will crazy glue it! There I am, at 6:30am crazy gluing my rain boots. Well, after putting some glue on the shoe and buckle, I put the opened crazy glue on my pants. Well, not smart.

One of my many blonde moments. The crazy glue leaked and my pants were now GLUED to my leg. Lovely! Well after using some nail polish remover, I got them unstuck!

I took the train into the city and headed to my first meeting. I went to the Food Exchange in East Midtown and met with the catering director. We talked for a few minutes before starting our meeting and I felt an instant connection with her.

I felt energized and excited that the mishap in the morning was just a mishap and that I was going to have a good day. I went on to my next meeting. When I got there I introduced myself. He got me confused with a later meeting and made a comment about ME not knowing it was me. Well, that was awkward.

The meeting was fine and I moved on to our office. As I was walking to the office I looked down and saw that my boot, the same one that I fixed earlier in the day, was cracked on the top and breaking. So if you looked at my boot a certain way, the pink lining was coming through. Great!

I arrived at our office on Madison Avenue and met Kristie Galvani. It was nice to see a familiar face and someone I could share my day with. From there I went to 23rd and Madison and could NOT for the life of me find the subway station. I asked three cops and no one sent me in the right direction. I asked a food vendor and he lead me in the right direction.  I finally made it to my meeting and then it was time for lunch.

My next meetings were near Penn Station, but I did not want to walk all the way there for lunch. So I thought to walk around. It’s NYC, there are tons of places to eat. I was in the mood for Chipotle and I was off on a mission. Well about 20 blocks/avenues later, no Chipotle and I ended up at the Foodpac. After all that, I hated my lunch. I was annoyed because I was hungry and wasted my money. So on my way to the meeting, I ran into McDonald’s and got a McChicken.  I was no longer starving.

My next few meetings went great and then I was on my way to the financial district.

A little peek into my personal life, I am getting married in less than 5 months. So my fiance and I had some things to take care of for our wedding. You know what I saw when I got off the subway in the financial district? A Chipotle!

On the way back to Long Island, I told my fiancé about my day and he just laughed. Which made me laugh because in the end after gluing my pants to my leg, not having a good lunch and my boots breaking, the rest of my day was great!

So you see, that’s my day in a nutshell. And tomorrow, will be completely different. Like I said, no day is alike, but I love it that way.

The other day, I went to my acupuncturist’s office for an appointment.  I left work at 12:15 pm for a 1:00 pm appointment in Long Beach.  It was snowing, the roads were icy and I couldn’t find a parking spot. I drove around the block once and ended up parking on the corner and walked to her office as the snow turned into sleet.

I had just completed a half marathon on Sunday and have been in so much pain so I thought that an appointment with the acupuncturist would be the right treatment for me.

I entered her office.  Her office is in a house and she shares it with a Chiropractor.  No one was at the reception desk.  I waited. No one came out to greet me.  Ten minutes went by and I sent a text message to my friend, Marti, who recommended her to me.

What do you do when you walk in and no one is in the office?

Call out hello, Marti wrote

I feel awkward, I wrote

Knock on her door and see if she is there or just yell out HELLO!

I yelled HELLO.  No one came out.  I heard people talking.  I walked toward the back and yelled HELLO again.  Another woman came out of an office. She said that Ellen, the acupuncturist, was in with another patient.  I dropped my head and went back to the waiting room.

As I was sitting there I started to think about how the same situation happened to me in reverse.  One time I had someone in for an interview.  Everyone’s doors were closed and the phone rang.  I picked it up.

“Hilary,” the interviewee said, “I’m outside your door.”

Another time, we had someone in for an interview.  I wasn’t around that day.  I was on vacation with my family so I had my staff watch my turtle, Shanikwa.  The turtle sat in the waiting room.  The woman walked into the office and sat herself beside the turtle.  Kristie was on the phone and Lori was in her office.  Lori came out and greeted the interviewee and asked her to patiently wait while Kristie finished her call.

Lori went back into her office and soon thereafter, heard the woman talking with the turtle.

“Hey little guy,” she said, “how are you today?  You don’t look very happy?  Are you happy?”

Obviously the turtle didn’t answer her but Lori heard the whole conversation.  To say the least, the woman didn’t get the job.

All of these stories flowed into my head as I sat there waiting for the acupuncturist to come out.

“Hilary, you’re early,” she said as she was walking down the corridor. “Your appointment is for 4:00 pm.”

“No, I have it for 1 pm,” I said.  She said it was no problem with the mix up and was able to see me anyway.  As I walked into her office I chuckled at the awkwardness of the situation.

What would you do?

As a small business owner, I really value the advice my attorney and accountant provide to me. My company wouldn’t be what it is today without them.  They continually provide me with insight on how I can be doing things differently that will help my company grow.

With that in mind, I wanted to let everyone know about The New York Enterprise Report Best Accountants and Attorneys for Growing Businesses Awards program.  If you have an accountant or attorney (or both) who help make your company great, send them the application information!

The awards program is now in it’s second year and will recognize accountants and attorneys that have made an outstanding contribution by going “above and beyond” in helping their clients succeed.

Accountants and Attorneys from large and small firms alike are encouraged to apply! Visit www.nyreport.com/bestadvisors to create your account today. The deadline to submit applications is Friday, April 1st.

The New York Enterprise Report Best Accountants and Attorneys for Growing Businesses Awards will be on Thursday, June 16tth at the Trump Soho in NYC from 6:00pm – 10:00pm

For more information on the event, visit www.nyreport.com/bestadvisors or call Ellen in my office at 516-997-1950.

I remember getting my first Plaxo requests in 2002 from business associates asking me to update my contact information so that they could update their address books. I was so intrigued with the number of requests I received that I signed up for Plaxo.

Fast forward a few years and Plaxo became just another social networking site, but always had a powerful address book that sync’d with Outlook, Entourage, and even your Gmail accounts.image of Plaxo logo

“In 2007, we became Plaxo Publishing, a social network aggregator,” said Preston Smalley, General Manager of Plaxo.com at Plaxo, Inc. “After that, we took a hard look at what we were doing and saw that there really wasn’t a need for another social networking site like LinkedIn or Facebook. So we decided to go back to our roots and offer consumers a highly integrated address book.”

In an interview, Smalley told me that Plaxo Basic now has premium features available including de-duping, which was once a paid service.

He also said that since the birthday card feature is one of their customers’ favorite features, Plaxo decided to include it in the basic package.  The user can get 50 occasions and birthday reminders and cards.

Facebook informs you of a birthday and you can write on that person’s wall, but Plaxo takes it a step further by offering e-cards, which is a nice way to keep up with your contacts.

In addition, Smalley told me that his company added an improved paid service called Plaxo Platinum Sync, which actually syncs all of your address books in real time.  The service is $59.99.

The big news is the introduction of Plaxo Personal Assistant which, for $79.99 a year, will automatically update your contact information using social networking sites, Zoom Info, and other online sites.

“The great thing about this is you can accept or reject the address book change. You have complete control,” said Smalley.

He said if a customer wanted both the Plaxo Platinum and the Plaxo Personal Assistant, then he or she would only pay $119.98/year or $10/month for both.

“This is a perfect platform for people on the go,” Smalley said. “We designed this product for those who feel that contacts and up to date information [are] important.”

When asked if the improved Plaxo syncs with someone’s contact management system (CMS), he told me that they are working on this.

Personally, I would love a feature like that, especially since I use Batchbook for all my contacts.

What’s also unique is that this product syncs with all leading mobile platforms.  Smalley said they even have apps for iPhones, Blackberries, and Droids.

There are 50 million people who use Plaxo, with three billion contacts. Fifty percent are located in the U.S.

Article first published as Plaxo Upgrades Services to Add More Value for Customers on Blogcritics.

I have a material connection because I received a sample of a product for consideration in preparing to write this content.
I am not expected to return this item after my review period.

I am a nervous wreck. I’m not kidding. The NYC Half Marathon is less than 24 hours away and I just don’t know if I’ll make it through.

Why? Since October, I have been bothered by shin splints. It has been so bad that I have had trouble keeping to the training schedule. The only long run was in Florida a month or so ago when I ran six miles.

After that, I can’t seem to figure out what to wear. Shorts? Pants? Friday was beautiful. It was almost 80 degrees. But, Sunday is supposed to be in the 40s or 50s.

I could wear one of the spring outfits that Brooks provided to me. They are lighter, more colorful, and breathable. Or, I can wear a dark color for winter that Nike provided to me. They sent me a pair of long running pants and gray tops. Both are perfect for wicking away the sweat. So, I may wear a combination of both, Nike and Brooks.

I have to wear my Team for Kids tank top no matter what. I raised more than $1600 for the charity that helps inner city kids learn about nutrition, health, and fitness. And I’m proud about that. But what happens if I can’t run the whole thing? I feel like the kids are counting on me.

The other thing I’m worried about is the route. The first part goes around Central Park. Central Park is very hilly. Not only that but we will have to do a lap and a half around the park. After that, we run down Broadway to Times Square, then over to the West Side and down to Battery Park. Thirteen miles is a long way. Don’t get fooled; this is going to be hard.

I’m also worried about my husband. He decided to run not too long ago after having knee surgery. I’m not too concerned about his knee. I’m very concerned about his back. He just went for an MRI and was diagnosed with a herniated disk. I’m concerned for his safety and he is being very stubborn about running the race with me.

The other thing is, he is faster than I am. It’s going to take a lot out of me to keep up with him. So I will try to go at my own pace on my own journey. It’s going to be hard not thinking about him. It’s also going to be hard not thinking about the shin splints and the pain in the backs of my legs.

Team for Kids sent out an email at the beginning of the week. They wrote the word of the week is JOY. They said, just be joyful for what you have accomplished and what you will accomplish. My joy will be running through a city that I truly love – running through various neighborhoods and being able to conquer something that I never thought I could ever conquer.

For me, it’s about the journey, but I really do want to reach the destination.

This post was first published on Blogcritics.org: http://blogcritics.org/sports/article/a-runners-diary-mental-prep-before/#ixzz1H4NuZgFv