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

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.

SO, IT’S OFFICIAL. NYC. HERE I COME!

Our pursuits – in life, love (and TECHYNESS, in my case) can take us many places, many of which we wouldn’t exactly expect or predict.

It’s taken me to Syracuse, Florence, Atlanta, Houston, Cincinnati, Shanghai, Danbury, and Schenectady, NY. Each location has had it’s pros and its cons, ups and downs, but the main outcome can be best summarized by a quote from The Alchemist.

“When someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he had never dreamed of when he first made the decision.” – Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

Like many wide-eyed and eager youngsters, I’m moving to NYC.

The reason? To continue the pursuit of techyness.

One major aspect of this pursuit of techyness is a job. Not just a “job” – but something that will take me to that next level of techyness.  On that end, I’ll be working at Big Fuel, a social media/digital marketing company as a Tech Lead/Interactive Producer (wish me luck!!).

Overall, I’m very much looking forward to writing about this change and set of experiences to come with you- so stay tuned!

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].

Last weekend, I found myself in the city for a few days. And while I was there, I realized that when you combine NYC, Hot Guidos and a few (hot) chicks on twitter, your total # of followers can increase substantially (and you’re going to have a lot of fun).

And the best part about all of this is that the whole reason I was in New York to begin with is social media (and to visit someone!) — and it just so happened to be the first thing I had in common with the people I met while I was there :)

NYC

Every tourist in NYC has to go and see the tree at 30 rock, even if those who live in the city are morally opposed to taking the trip to see said item. But, regardless, I still took a photo and (first) uploaded it to twitter and (second) sent a MMS to my mother. (she likes Christmas too).

Twitter Followers

My favorite part about this photo is that after both  Niki and Jill uploaded it to TwitPic, my # of followers on Twitter increased. That’s the beauty of someone tweeting “3 hot girls you should follow on twitter.” People listen and start to follow you.

Hot Guidos

After meeting Jill Hanner and Nicole D’Alonzo thanks to George, I was inspired to check out one of Jill’s infamous videos that Niki was telling me about all night…