HairBoutique Blog

Join Abacus and Shinsei in the Dallas area as they welcome Mac McDonald of Vision Cellars!

On August 25th, Abacus (one my favorite Dallas restaurants) and Shinsei will hold their inaugural 2009 wine dinner at Chef Kent and Tracy Rathbun’s new 19th Floor Penthouse at the Heights at Park Lane.

(Image of Mac McDonald of Vision Cellars in Sonoma, California -All Rights Reserved).

On a recent trip to Sonoma, Kent and Tracy had the pleasure of dining at Mac McDonald’s house with his lovely wife, Lil. They were so enamored of both Mac and his wines, they knew the next time he was in Dallas, they would love to host a dinner with Mac.

Mac is now coming to town and now everyone can enjoy his wonderful award wining wines.

Mac McDonald Wines

A small boutique winery in Sonoma, Mac’s wines are such a pleasure to drink, you won’t want to miss this event. It will be a very special dinner and very limited in number! Don’t miss out! (more…)

Although most people think of me as a hair and beauty expert, and I appreciate the thoughts, I actually grew up in the world of business and computers.

When I was barely into my 20s I spent a weekend with my feet strapped onto roller blades as I skated up and down long aisles of old fashioned tape drives changing out tapes as the main console posted the latest tape wait logs.

Why you ask?  I lost a bet to the MIS Director (yes, that’s what they were called back then) who said I wouldn’t last one hour loading tapes.  Surprise, I lasted an entire shift although I swore to never do it again.

Most people probably have no idea what I’m talking about when I say loading tape drives, but it was both fun and exhausting.  It also toned my legs.

As my hybrid career progressed I transitioned from monster mainframes to the first generation of PCs.  I worked for a software company in Carrollton, Texas (burb of Dallas) where I was on a pilot project team utilizing PCs for the IRS Electronic Tax Filing System.  I actually watched the first set of returns go through the system.

In the mid 1990s I was one of the first to “surf” while everyone looked at me like I was speaking gibberish about that mystery known as “the web”.  Of course HairBoutique.com was one of the first to launch a hair & beauty information portal on the Internet.

First Glimpses Of Social Networking - Prodigy?

When the first glimmers of what was to become social networking arrived - as Prodigy - I was there.  Ditto for AOL chat and the old talk cities.  I was on MySpace and Facebook the minute I could have an account.  Same with LinkedIn and Twitter. (more…)

Chima is the current Head of Household (HoH) on Big Brother 11.  She won the HoH challenge by memorizing what callers said about the show.

(Image of original Brains Clique on Big Brother 11 - LR - Michele, Ronnie (now eliminated) and Chima (current Head of Household - CBS - All Rights Reserved).

Chima is really making the most of her time in the Head of Household room.  She has been having some long chat sessions, especially at night, about her various beliefs.  To say Chima is outspoken is an understatement.  Not only does Chima have very strong opinions about everything, she speaks them freely and loudly.

Her laugh is very distinctive and Russell has been known to make fun of it.

She and Michele have been spending a lot of time together because Michele is worried about her position in the house.  The two women have been bonding over the shared hatred of Russell which Chima pointed out to Michele. (more…)

The Leadership Vacuum:  What We Lose With The Next Generation

The mass exodus of Baby Boomers from the workplace has already begun. According to the US Office of Personnel Management, between 2006 and 2010 Boomer retirement will have robbed American companies of nearly 290,000 full-time experienced employees.

(Image of workers - by Woodsy - All Rights Reserved).

While the financial crisis has forced some to postpone retirement for a couple extra years, we can’t count on the majority of them to be fully contributing members of the workforce much longer.

Silver hair, pension funds and personal memories of a Kennedy assassination are not the only things our struggling economic engine will lose when Boomers settle into the quiet life. (more…)

A few weeks ago I wrote a Blog where I made a specific point of listing some of my #FollowFriday (#FF) Friends in the Hair and Beauty Industry (more will eventually follow).

(Image from Jana Kollárová - All Rights Reserved).

The reason I wrote a blog instead of just Tweeting about my #FF Friends was because I have more than just a handful I appreciate and want to recommend.

Although #FollowFriday is one of my favorite days of the week on Twitter, there are mixed feelings about the now famous #FF day.

Why?  Some people consider it more like being spammed than helping to share the news about great people to follow.

Talk to ten people about why they are active on Twitter and you will get ten different reasons.  Some Tweeple specifically want to meet new friends, business contacts and have the heightened ability to network with like minds. (more…)