On Tuesday, October 4th, @Twitter hosted a #party4good that showcased IRL their powerful reach as a social platform.

The Twitter team did this effortlessly by combining the start-up and influential elite together for a night of music by Funkmaster Flex (so amazing) and showcasing a gallery of powerful tweets and images shared via Twitter around the world.

Check out a few of the samples below- everyone from @aplusk to @justinbieber and  @pepsi was showcased. Overall, I think @twitter’s choice of creating a physical gallery of these images was incredibly moving.

Every attendee received a copy of Twitter for Good: Change the World One Tweet at a Time, a book authored by Claire Diaz-Ortez, who leads social innovation and philanthropy at Twitter.

Friday evening was filled with hours of sugary, alcohol, and caffeine tastings at “SWEET,” the late-night dessert-only event during New York Food & Wine, hosted by Sandra Lee.

As an attendee, one’s goal was to taste as many things as possible – and give your “token” (pictured above) to the single restaurant/bakery that satisifed your sugary needs.

And it was tough – consider tasting the best macaroons, pastries, doughnuts (!), brownies, and more from places like Bouchon, Kyotofu, Mad Mac, BabyCakes, Park Avenue Autumn, and Gotham Bar and Grill. Let’s just say it’s hard to pick just one.

Of course, I HAD to get a photo with my vegan  (and gluten-free) cooking idol – Erin McKenna – the founder of BabyCakes on the LES. Her cookbooks look amazing – check them out on amazon here.

And of course, what’s a party without a photobooth – and this one from BING was different than any other- it actually had fans to make your hair look amazing in the photos!

A night out with lipstick queen Poppy King, while surrounded by Kate Spade bags and champagne? Um, hard to say no to that one!

On Thursday night, I ventured to the 5th avenue Kate Spade store to experience the infamous Poppy King lipsticks for myself. What I didn’t realize is that upon arrival, I would get my own “pop of color” (see it in my hair below) and a personalized lipstick consultation from Poppy herself.

Posing (with our poppies!) with the one and only Poppy King (at center) , at the Kate Spade 5th avenue store

Upon reviewing the four choices available in her Kate Spade line, Poppy instantly guided me to Adventurous Red, which turned out to be a wonderful (& wearable!) sheer ruby color. What’s most interesting about Poppy’s line of lipsticks is that they go on sheer – which allows you to layer (& have full control) of the amount of color on your lips.

Poppy chose Pop Art Pink for my friend Erin Doyle (on left) which turned out to look amazing.

As the designer, she knew exactly which colors looked best on the women in the room – I saw a lot of lipstick flying off the shelves.

As always, the packaging didn’t disappoint, as the lipstick is housed in a beautiful gold case that says supercalifragilipstick! My recommendation? Splurge ($24) and pick one up before they sell out.

//geek note

Additionally, to show my love for Kate Spade, I would like to point out that my Google Chrome browser theme has been Kate Spade for some time now.

A few favorite tweets from the event…

@poppyking discussing the science behind each color with @alanamarie http://t.co/Q9xp9YOe

September 29, 2011 5:23 pm via InstagramReplyRetweetFavorite

@katespadeny

kate spade new york

At @katespadeny #puckerup event - just got a lipstick reading from lipstick queen @poppyking http://t.co/etZw66Pj

September 29, 2011 5:30 pm via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite

@AlanaMarie

alana marie

I’ve never been a major fan or advocate for QR codes (Quick Response codes- the 2D barcodes that are filled with information), but my time on the NYC FNO Barbie Scavenger hunt bus is a move in the right direction.

On Fashion’s Night Out, Barbie sponsored a scavenger hunt around Manhattan, leading those with a love for fashion to stores like Tracy Reese, Alexis Bittar, and more by hopping on and off a Barbie-themed bus (complete with Barbie dolls by the way).

Once at a store, all you needed to do was 1) find the barbie dressed in the designer’s gear 2) fire up your smartphone with a QR code reader 3) Scan it 4) Enter your name in an online form and TRY TO WIN THE OUTFIT!

For those who were taking a fashion’s night in – or who couldn’t be in NYC – there were opportunities to scan a QR code on http://barbielovesfno.com to enter to win some prizes as well (sorry the entry period is now over.)

So now, the bottom line.

Overall, my feelings on QR codes remain the same: Cool when used correctly (like what Tiffany did for their FNO event) but lame when used in subway ads (among other QR code fails).

As for Barbie, girl, I’m sold, and I’m thinking about adding this one to my christmas list. #retroglam

Growing up, we did not have a Sephora. I was a Clinique girl, constantly reviewing product offerings in my local Ohio department store – I did not know there was a bigger cosmetics world out there (probably fortunate at the time). It was my time at Syracuse University (and my sorority) who introduced me to the world of luxury products, and Sephora.

What I found is that I was soon bored by the sheer number of choices, as well as the amount of data and reviews available on each product. I would spend time researching products before going in-store to make a purchase. Where was the middle ground? Where was my cosmetics advisor?

Which leads me to the solution, found via FastCompany.

My first memory of Birchbox comes from a time in my life where I was spending a lot of time on airplanes- and in this specific case, traveling to a major speaking gig in Orlando, Florida. And what do I do on airplanes? Read a lot of magazines- including FastCompany.

In February 2011, FastCompany profiled Birchbox, a growing startup headquarted in NYC by two Harvard Business School grads who wanted to redesign how women find beauty products by offering a curated box of deluxe samples for $10 a month.

Immediately interested, I signed up for Birchbox and have been a  huge fan since- especially with the “themed” boxes the company has been promoting (ahem a Cynthia Rowley box?)

So when I received an invite to the “members only” VIP party at the Caudalie Spa at the Plaza on August 1st, there was no turning back.

With a few friends from work in tow, I sampled Caudalie products (including some amazing eye cream called Premier Cru) and received mini-spa treatments (including a scalp massage!) while sipping on some Merlot (the spa has it’s own Sommelier!)

[Bloggers Note: I have to give a shoutout here.]

The chance to get high-quality and targeted products delivered in a hot pink box is truly something special. Yay for Birchbox, and yay for entrepreneurial women with technology-focused mindsets driving innovation!

The pink box was a centerpiece at the event

A Live TwitPic from @Birchbox from the August 2011 event

Growing up (or even as grown ups) each one of us has a disney star or a show that we watch even though people (aka my brother) would tease us about it.

Therefore, I have to come clean: I am a closet hilary duff fan.

I watched Lizzie McGuire. I’ve seen her movies. I was beyond excited when I found out she was going to be on Gossip Girl.

So when I saw her at the SoBe #tryanything event in NYC on May 25th – I was nervous, a little starstruck, and George had to ask her if she would take a picture with me. So here it is, my first official celeb photo while a nyc resident.

IT’S PROM SEASON!!!!

I admit it, I’m a gleek.

Maybe it’s the music, the karaoke-like feeling of wanting to break into song,  the overall addiction factor of the show in it’s entirety, my girl crush on Lea Michele (Rachel) , or just my overall crush on Darren Criss (Blaine).

Last week, Glee’s  PROM episode (as well as the Disney movie of the same name) started me down a path of reminiscing my days of high school formals.

The episode focuses on one major aspect of Prom – the tradition of crowning a king and a queen, which many of you readers out there can relate to one of the following scenarios:

1. You were on the prom court
2. You wished you were on the prom court
3. You really didn’t care either way/thought it was dumb (because you really wished you could be on it)
4. You didn’t care/thought it was dumb (because you truly didn’t care about it)

I fell under category #2.

As noted in GLEE’s prom episode, who doesn’t want a crown?

A few friends on I before senior prom at St. Ursula Academy (I'm in the blue dress on the right)

I had a senior prom experience that started out awesome – a beautiful dress, an updo that did not involve glitter or butterfly clips (see note below if you need a reminder), and a date.

But, putting my “graduation goggles” aside, my high school senior prom was not awesome, which made me work even harder to make my college experience truly awesome.

Looking back, I was in a relationship that was just about to end (drama! Let’s not get into it here…) and that made things a little bit more complicated. But, on a positive note, at the mandatory after-prom (yes we had those at catholic high schools) I did win a TV!

Butterfly clips - remember these bad boys? And that glitter hair gel? oh man.

So, after prom and graduation, I headed out east to study information management and marketing at Syracuse University.

During my four years at SU, I put major effort into pursuing my passion of technology (nerd alert), joining a sorority (kappa alpha theta!!) and making the most out of an opportunity for which I am truly grateful – without knowing that one day, a crown could still be mine!!! (take that high school!)

Alana (yours truly) crowned Syracuse University Homecoming Queen in 2007.

The truth of the matter is just because something didn’t happen for you in high school doesn’t mean it won’t.

If you play your cards right, you might just end up with a crown after all.

While at SXSW, I met Hugh, the artist behind the awesomeness of Gaping Void, and in the spirit of the inspiring art and quotes I saw at their booth, I subscribed to the daily newsletter.  The note from today really struck a cord with me – maybe it’s because of my upcoming move to NYC as well as a job change, but what I can say is that it made me feel a little bit better amidst all of the things that are going on in my life to prepare for this big life change.

Everybody wants to be insanely successful, but nobody wants to lose their sanity in the process.

Everybody wants the work-life balance, but nobody wants to be a boring nonentity, either.

Everybody wants to have amazing experiences, but nobody wants to make an amazing sacrifice in order to have it.

Everything has a price. Very few people actually want to pay it.

Life is suffering…

 

//via GapingVoid

When was the last time you checked out a book at the library?

While reading an article about Jane McGonigal’s most recent project, NYPL’s game, titled “Find the Future,” I thought to myself… how long has it been.

High School? IT has to be about 8 years ago, which is rather incredible to think about.

Now, if you’re in the same boat as me (not having been to a library in 5+ years), watch this video.

Ok- you’re back. (hey).

Maybe you’re like me and this video enticed the inner geek, adventurous person within yourself to check out the online application and maybe even apply for this one night in person MMIRPG (Massive Multi-Player In-Person Role Playing Game).

The game starts with a special, invitation-only event on May 20, 2011. As part of the Centennial celebration weekend, hundreds of gamers will earn the chance to join a special once-in-a-lifetime event: an “overnight lock-in” at NYPL’s Stephen A. Schwarzman building. This “write all night” lock in will serve as the official kick-off for the Find The Future game.

Starting May 21, 2011, visitors to the Stephen A. Schwarzman branch of the NYPL can play the game with their personal smartphones, or on Library computers. Global players will join the game with any computer that has access to the Internet. The game is free to play.

For more information on game theory (and why New York Public Library is doing this), check out Jane’s TED video (which was ranked #16 all time!) where she discusses why gaming is essential to our lives, and how they inspire us.

I also listened to Jane speak at SXSW 2011, and she was both an amazing and inspiring speaker. She captivated my attention so much that I barely tweeted! [And this TED video is very similar to her keynote at SXSW].

TMB Panyee FC short film  

In life, we talk about making a difference: making the most out of our current situation through teamwork, innovation, and hard work.

This video from TMB (a bank in Thailand) created by Leo Burnett is so well done – I had tears in my eyes!

I love the humor — like the kid who falls into the water while on his bike (to demonstrate how space is limited on their island).

What inspiring videos have you come across recently on youtube?