What Happens in Vegas...

"If you know how to live in Vegas you can have the best time." - Tony Curtis

I recently got back from an awesome vacation in Las Vegas and I'm still adjusting to the relative quiet of Toronto. This was my first visit to Sin City and I wasn't quite sure what to expect. To be honest, Vegas is cray... and yes, I dropped 'z' to emphasize how nuts the place actually is.

To describe the city, Artie Lange said "Vegas means comedy, tragedy, happiness and sadness all at the same time." From my point of view (because I'm a huge people watcher), it also means inhibition, excessiveness, poor life choices, and a hell of a lot of fun.

Beautiful view of the strip from our room at Vdara

 Some of you who follow the blog might wonder why I went to Vegas when I'm trying to stay on a budget. You might think "Vegas on a budget - is this even possible?" I'm sure it is, and on an even tighter wallet than mine.

Before I went, a friend told me to expect to spend anywhere between $500-$800 for four days in Vegas. That doesn't even include the airfare/hotel/fees. ARE YOU NUTS?!? I definitely don't have the cash flow to make that a possibility - I didn't want to skimp out on my trip but I also couldn't justify acting like a high-roller.

Looking to save a few bucks? Here's a few things my friend and I did to keep the cash spend low (or at least, as low as we could.)

1. Hit the outlet malls
Like most major metropolitan centers, Las Vegas is a shopping mecca. The Shops at Crystals is a high-end shopping mall that has designer shops like Balenciaga, Roberto Cavalli, and Van Cleef & Arpels. However, unless you're a high-roller, these places may break your bank. At the same time, you don't want to completely cut yourself off from retail therapy, and that's where the outlet malls come in. Las Vegas has the awesome Las Vegas Premium Outlets situated on either end of the strip. You can find great deals on brands like Michael Kors, Fossil, and BCBG Max Azria (among others.) When we were there, most of the shops were running 50% deals on a lot of the items in store (and that was after the huge savings the outlets were already offering).

2. Public transit
Let's face it, cabs are crazy expensive. Add in the horrendous traffic in Las Vegas, and you'll just watch the fare meter tick up and up. A day pass on RTC Transit (the Las Vegas Transit Authority) is just $8 for 24 hours of unlimited rides - when you compare this to the $6 for 2 hours only, the day pass is a great deal! If you think you'll be using transit a lot during your stay, a 3-day unlimited pass is only $20. We also took a special bus from the airport - it cost $15 USD for a roundtrip to/from McCarran Airport and you could schedule it to grab you at your hotel at any time. 

3. Work the system
Did you know that most of the hotels on the strip are owned by MGM Resorts? This means that there is a good chance your hotel can get you a deal on something another hotel is featuring. My friend and I wanted to go see the Cirque du Soleil show "Zarkana", which was running at the Aria Hotel right across the roundabout. The Tix4Tonight booths were advertising "half-price" tickets at over $90 for balcony seats. However, we called our concierge and they were able to get us really great balcony tickets at $55!

4. Head off the strip
The stores located close to your hotel (aka are the most convenient) jack their prices up because they know most tourists can't be bothered to find a deal. You're in Vegas, you're catching rays, drinking in the splendours... what do you care that you have to pay $3 for a Coors Light Tallboy? If you're like me and don't mind walking a little bit, you can save a bit of money. Even heading off The Strip for a few blocks can net you way better deals. At an off-strip location, we got alcohol, soda, and sunscreen for several dollars cheaper (about 25 per cent) than offered at the CVS directly across from our hotel. Another great thing about the United States is that they sell booze just about everywhere - even our gas station beer was cheaper than found on The Strip!

5. Know your limit
This applies to regular spending as well as gambling. If you're afraid that you'll bankrupt yourself at the ATM, remove the temptation. Either leave your debit card at home or set a strict daily spend limit with your bank. To start, my VISA has a low credit limit and won't let me charge more than $20 over it so I was never in danger of losing any hard cash. If you still want to gamble without setting foot in the highrollers's room, all of the casinos have slot machines with low betting amounts. My friend and I played the penny slots after our dinner at Tao and managed to win back a few bucks ;). 

6. Make a package
Bundle, bundle, bundle! If you're not using a booking site like Red Tag or Travelocity, why not? Unless you're booking with travel points, you're missing out the great deals you can get when you combine your hotel and flight. 

7. Hotel with a kitchen
I know that it's not always possible to get a hotel room with kitchenette, but it's a sure-fire way to save money. Our room at Vdara Hotel and Spa came with a mini-fridge, sink, microwave, and range top. While the fridge didn't store much, it did allow us to choose our alcohol, restaurant leftovers, and items for breakfast. Even when you economize, three restaurant meals a day can add up... try to get groceries when you can and hopefully your hotel room will have places to store them. 

On a side note, I'd recommend the Vdara to anyone looking for a great place to stay in Vegas. Even the most basic rooms are luxurious, staff are pleasant and attentive, and it's close to anything you need. Only caveat: if you're heading to Sin City during a huge event like UFC, confirm your room before you go. We were accidentally given a room with only one King bed for two girls, though we had reserved a double room. By the time we were checked in to the hotel and got up to our room, the hotel was fully booked for UFC and there was no way to get two beds.

8. What's for free?
Events in Las Vegas are expensive... but they don't have to be. There is a lot to do in town that is free... and if not free, at a low cost to you. The Bellagio Fountains put on choreographed shows that include music and lighting. Starting in the afternoon, these shows are timed every 15-30 minutes so you're sure to see something! The Bellagio also offers free admission to the Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. Another great find was the dueling piano bar at Harrah's. We'd been on the lookout for such a place as my friend loved it the last time she was in town. Dueling piano bars aren't free.. but they're super entertaining and a lot cheaper/more in tune than pop stars whose names have been censored for their protection. 

Here are a few things I would've done in hindsight.

1. Don't hit up the lobby Starbucks
You may need caffeine... but are you willing to stand in a twenty minute long line and pay 30 per cent more for it? I'm sad to say that I was. Next time I'd head to one of the other trillion Starbucks in the immediate vicinity, make use of those instant Via packets, or even get a cheaper cup of joe while I was hanging out pool-side.

2. Avoid the souvenir cups
Well, avoid the large souvenir cups. One cool (read: touristy) thing to do in Vegas is to head to one of Fat Tuesday's many locations and grab a yard-long plastic cup filled with an alcoholic freezie. A smaller cup will do just fine! You probably don't need the extra booze and sugar in the big cup... and no matter what you tell yourself, you won't be bringing the big cup home in your suitcase.

3. Bring more cash
ATM fees suck... especially cross-border ATM fees. Even before I got on the airplane, I knew that I would need more cash than what I had brought. But for some reason, I decided to wait until I was on my last fiver to take out more money and incur the wrath of the financial fee fairy.

Do I regret ordering drinks pool-side? Hell no. There are some pricey things in Las Vegas that you just have to say yes to. If you've been to Vegas, is there anything I missed? Do you think it's possible to see Vegas without breaking the bank?

To keep the Sin City feeling rolling, here's a video of The Rat Pack (featuring Johnny Carson) to serenade you away.

The Work Sphere: Dividing the Personal and Professional

“Professionalism: It’s NOT the job you DO, It’s HOW you DO the job.”
– Anonymous

How often have you heard the following when a coworker picks up their phone: "Hello? Hi Mom. No, I'm at work... at work, Mom. I can't talk to you right now." And the conversation goes on for another 10 minutes. This is a huge pet peeve of mine, but more than that, I think it indicates a lack of professionalism in the workplace.

 

The workplace is just that... a place for work. A place for you to get paid for the tasks you do there. If you simply must take a call during work, direct it to your mobile and step out of the room to take it. Seems simple enough to me.

Some of you may think this is a little harsh... that I'm too much of a buzzkill. I'll allow it. Do I want you to be miserable at your work? NO! Do I want you to make friends with your colleagues? OF COURSE! Enjoying what you do and liking your workplace leads to happier employees, who in turn do better at their jobs. I just believe that we can be a little too lax in our measures of professionalism.

Many workplaces have a set of standards for professionalism and integrity that are laid out in an employee handbook. These can include everything from dress code to personal calls to internet browsing (do you really think your company isn't aware of what exactly you're checking out on the world wide web?) As an employee of any company, you have a special responsibility as their representative to project the image they want their customers to see, even if you aren't actually client-facing. It's also important to note that this responsibility extends to any and all mediums in which you can be connected back to the company.

To bring it back to a PR standpoint, think of your personal branding. Your personal brand is the "you" that other people see - it's what they think when your name comes up in conversation. A personal brand is synonymous with a reputation so it's very important to cultivate a good one. Blade Creative Branding wrote a great blog post on the importance of personal branding and it's definitely worth a read.

What do you think? Am I being a little too harsh or do you think we're allowing our professional/personal lives to blend a little too much?

Skills That Thrill

One of the basic tenets of the Communications industry is the ability to write convincingly, concisely, and above all, correctly.

However, I'm seeing far too many people either in my profession or trying to get into my profession who have horrible writing skills. We're positioning ourselves as Communications experts but people are still not using they're/there/their correctly!

I understand that not all of us are born with the innate ability to spell every word properly or have grammatical skills that would put the Associated Press editor to shame. However, with all of the resources available (spell-check, thesaurus in .com or book format, style guides), there really is no excuse for poor writing.

What kind of person or company would hire a Communications professional who submits a proposal with this sentence in it: "teh communications plan would include a detailed analysiss of the companey's stakeholder groups, including a breakdown of there most pressing issue."

Like in all facets of life, there does appear to be a grey area here... in that of character-limited communications (Twitter, anyone?) Even though you get used to driving out 140 character statements, sometimes you may run into trouble. 'To' becomes '2' and you will see a few more abbreviations or acronyms than usual. 

I have heard the following excuse too often: "It's just Twitter! Why should I care about how correct it is?" Well, I don't buy into the notion of practice writing - even if it's not for a job, blog posts or tweets are out on the internet forever and so should be proofread as deeply as any work piece. Perhaps the one exception? Texting on your phone to family or friends. I am guilty of text speak... and there are a few occasions in which it's appropriate (on my phone only!) I say 'perhaps' when talking about texting because it still bothers me if my fat and clumsy fingers cause me to send a text out with errors in it. The people I text with have become used to me following an error with the correct spelling/word usage. Call me nitpicky but it really 'grinds my gears' when I write something wrong.

I don't know it all and I definitely need to take another look at a PR style guide (tip: keep one on hand), but I do have a few years of university English under my belt (aka a burning need to proofread anything I see.)

Having a little trouble with some common grammar mistakes? Check out this great infographic from Socially Stacked - it definitely helped me out!

Peep Peep - An Easter Story

Happy Easter Monday, everyone! Hopefully you've had time off over the last few days to relax and enjoy good eats with those you loved. 

One of my favourite things about Easter is that I get two days off from work (and for those of you who know that I usually work 7 days a week, this is a big deal!) I also get another chance to dream up some special holiday-themed cupcakes to bring in to work. I actually found the inspiration for this Easter's batch of desserts back in January and have been sitting on it ever since.

Ta da! This year's Easter Offering: Lemon Peep Cupcakes! Cake and icing are lemon, surrounding a gorgeous raspberry curd filling. DROOL. Between the flavour combinations and the decorating, I'm really happy with how these turned out. I got the design idea from Hoosier Homemade and the cupcake recipe from Your Cup of Cake. I'm a big fan of adding either sour cream or yogurt to your cake bases, as this helps create a very dense and moist cake once it's been baked.

To be perfectly honest, I've never actually had a Marshmallow Peep (the treat these cupcakes are modeled after) and I've never seen them sold in Canadian stores. Apparently they are a huge deal in the United States and many newspapers sponsor Peep diorama contests! The biggest contest is held annually by The Washington Post and they just announced their list of winners. My favourite? Hands down, "Everyone Peeps".

Surprise! Raspberry curd filling.

Coworkers definitely enjoyed today's sugary pick-me-up and I've left a few at home to nom on with the roomie. No immediate plans for the next batch because a) it's weird making cupcakes for your own birthday, and b) the next holiday to come up is Victoria Day, which isn't exactly inspiring me theme-wise. 

Maybe I'll have to wait until Canada Day to break out the next batch. Any quintessential Canadian flavour combos out there that you suggest I try?

In Case of Emergency...

In this volatile economic climate, it is very important to expect the unexpected. That’s where an emergency fund comes in. To put it basically, an emergency fund is money set aside for emergent expenses. In the economic crash of 2008, many people found themselves without a job or steady income stream. They got into further issue (read: DEBT) by relying on credit because they had no emergency fund and/or very little savings.

Do I have an emergency fund? No. Do I intend to set up a separate banking account for emergencies? ABSOLUTELY. I'm leaning towards a TFSA (but more on that later.) I do have about one month's expenses sitting in my chequing account but I'm loathe to change it over. Why? No clue. Laziness? Fright? Not having done the appropriate amount of research on which kind of account to use for it? Let's say a mix of all three.

Many people worry because they don’t have enough to set aside to cover the approximately one to six months of expenses financial experts advocate for. They worry because they either don't have the chunk of change available right now or just can't imagine ever being able to put away that kind of money. But I think you should think of an emergency fund as a long term goal: slowly but consistently put aside money until you reach the amount you would like.

Another point of contention among financial experts and people desperately trying to put together a workable budget is how much you should set aside. Some say 3-6 months of salary, others say a flat fee of $3000, or 3-6 months of expenses. For me, that would be three wildly different amounts! You have to decide this for yourself so consider how long you would need to use the emergency fund (how long would you expect to be out of work or paying for a medical procedure, etc.)

You also need to think about what constitutes an emergency. Is it replacing a dying computer? Probably not... unless that computer brings in your only source of income (but scroll down for a few thoughts on that.) On all the blogs I've read (see my Blogroll for sources), emergencies have ranged from sudden unemployment, to emergent medical procedures, or weather-related damages to a home that aren't covered under insurance.

Advice on emergency funds that I agree with most (these just seem to make the most common sense):

• If you have an unexpected bill that you construe as an emergency, try to come up with an alternate plan to pay for it (if possible.) Can you pare down on your cell phone data plan or commit to no restaurant food this month? On that note, if you can pay the bill by tweaking your lifestyle, is it really an emergency? Thoughts?
• Your emergency fund should stay untouched until you face a bill that you literally cannot afford to pay (and the new Marc Jacobs bag that you put on your VISA last month doesn't count).
• Can you decrease the cost of the emergency? Can you shop around for a better deal on the car you are replacing after it got totaled in an accident?

Please don't read this as me preaching about the financial do's and don'ts but instead slowly figuring out the workings of a successful grownup life. I need all the help that I can get! If anyone has any advice on emergency funds, I'm all ears. What about you guys? Is anyone socking away some bills for a rainy day (aka the day the rain leaks through the roof and floods the kitchen?)

Losing your job or dealing with a serious illness is stressful enough without adding money woes into it. Take care of yourself now and put money away so that you don't run into trouble later. You can't leave it all up to chance because there are way too many ifs in this world.

*If you're looking for more resources on the importance of an emergency fund, definitely check out Give Me Back My Five Bucks. I know I say it all the time, but Krystal Yee really knows her stuff!

Pretty Reckless

"Craving, not having, is the mother of a reckless giving of oneself." - Eric Hoffer

Have you ever gone to check your bank account balance, only to find far less money in there than you expected? You frantically scroll through your banking history, looking for the out-of-place purchase or fraudulent activity... only to find nothing of the sort. Instead you just find financial stupidity of your own design... willy-nilly bank withdrawals, Starbucks lattes every day, food court takeout lunches.

Those tiny purchases you barely blink an eye at are actually the foundation of some pretty reckless spending. "But it's just a dollar here or there," you say. "Does it really matter?"

 You're damn skippy it does. But why?

• You'll get charged bank fees out the wazoo for overzealous use of your debit card (ask me about the Christmas season in university where I got dinged $75 by the bank for all the extra times I used my debit card... that was more than all the money I spent on Christmas gifts combined!)
• You won't actually be seeing where your money goes or have an accurate idea of what you're actually spending
• You have no idea what your actual bank account balance is (and boy howdy will it come as a shock. It always does.)
• It destroys any chance of sticking to a budget
• Myriad other reasons not listed here (but for reference, go check out Gail Vaz-Oxlade's site or Give Me Back My Five Bucks)
• Straight up, you're throwing your money away. 

So how do you fix it? First, let's please remember that I am no financial wizard myself and have also been guilty of reckless spending a time or two... okay, a bazillion! I've included some tips from money wizards below, as well as a few things that have worked for me in the past. 

• Leave your debit/credit card at home.
• Why this works: you don't have access to it so you're not tempted to spend it.
• When you do go shopping, do it with a list.
• Why this works: This 'money rule' from Gail Vaz-Oxlade does test your willpower but makes you better off in the end. Her advice if you see something you want that hasn't been written down? "Put whatever you think you want on your list, and GO HOME. If you still want it in 48 hours, you can go back for it." 
• Take out cash at the beginning of the week and when it runs out, you're done.
• Why this works: a little self-explanatory, I think.
• Avoid places where you can spend money.
• Why this works: see above
• Sleep on it.
• Why this works: For one, this helps curb the dreaded impulse purchase. Research shows that 88% of impulse purchases are made on sale items... so after sleeping on the idea, you may come to the realization that the sale item really wasn't that great a deal after all. Vaz-Oxlade makes a great point when she says "If you walk away from the idea of the buy, giving your brain enough time to weigh the actual benefits against the actual costs, you’re moving from impulse shopping to problem recognition."
• Take more than a casual interest in checking your online banking history.
• Why this works: the more aware of the running total, the less inclined you will be to spend like a rapper... or a Kardashian... or the dreaded combo of the two: KIMYE. 

You are the architect of your own (financial) destruction (and if you can identify the TV show that line is from, I'll give you a virtual cookie). You are the only one that can make the changes that will keep you on the path to financial success. It truly is the little things that add up in the end.

Something Sweet

"And when I'm feeling down, I can always count on cupcakes... because cupcakes understand!" - Unknown

Let me put this out there right away: I love cupcakes. I love to bake them, I love to decorate them, and I especially love to eat them. I don't like the extra poundage they can bring (but that's a whole other story!)

Would I say I'm "good at cupcakes"? Probably as good as someone with a box of cake mix* and no stand mixer can be... and now that I've adjusted my powdered sugar to butter ratio in my frostings, I think I've gotten a bit better. ;)

Easter '13 - Lemon Coconut Nest Cupcakes

So what to do when you love to bake and love to eat what you bake... but don't fancy becoming 6000 lbs? Follow the old adage "to give is better than to receive" and share your goodies with your coworkers (and your roommates!)


 Due to my sweet obsession, my coworkers now wait expectantly every holiday (at least every major holiday) for me to bring in my cupcake shaped carrying case (yes, I carry cupcakes in a cupcake) filled to the brim with themed goodies. They like to eat the cupcakes, I like to see them eat them, and I love to get treats out of the house.

You always see those lists about the perks/pitfalls of working in an office (see this hilarious post from Buzzfeed here) and they mention cakes in the kitchen on every birthday. My company definitely isn't like that - these holiday cupcakes are just about the only desserts that come through our doors. I'm not sure if it's the flavour combinations or the sugar rush that excites my colleagues, but the treats seem to go over like gangbusters. And who doesn't love an ego boost like that? ;) 

Xmas 13 - Cherry Almond Snowflake Cupcakes

You can call me a baking nerd but one of my favourite parts of the entire process is planning out the decorations the holiday theme calls for - do I go whole hog and create little characters (like the Mummy cupcakes I made for last Hallowe'en) or do I just use Bulk Barn odds and ends to go somewhat abstract (the green cupcakes with gold coins for last St Patrick's Day come to mind). 

Now that I've awakened my sweet tooth, it's about time to plan for this Easter. Lemon chicks? Carrot cake rabbits? Stay tuned...

*For those of you who think it's cheating to use a boxed cake mix, it's not. The cake mix is a base to use while you experiment with other additions.