#187: Your Home Away From Home (Friday, July 30)

Home. Doesn't it sound nice? Doesn't it roll off the tongue? Well, I'm excited about this week's Good Friday, because it's a brain child of one of my dear friends, Kwabena Charles. He has created an oasis for visitors to New York; your home away from home, if you will. Check out his vacation rentals in Bed Stuy, right around the corner from a couple AMAZING restaurants (Peaches and Saraghina) and a great wine bar.

http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p296573
http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p294663

Tell your friends outta state who are looking to take a bite out of The Big Apple.

#186: Life Is NOW (Friday, July 23)

I got some sad news this week. I heard that an acquaintance of mine, Chakaras (Good Friday #167) passed away unexpectedly. If you read Good Friday #167, you know that he was talented and loved what he did. He had a lot left to give to the world, and we shall miss him.

Chakaras' death is a sobering reminder that life is NOW, and you may not get another opportunity to be excellent. Those dreams you have may not wait for you to catch up. Live NOW and life to the fullest.

Be excellent NOW.

#185: Be The Change (Friday, July 16)

"...We are committed to strengthening the neighborhoods and cities in which we live and work, practicing a hands-on model of corporate responsibility." - taken from Ariel's mission statement

So this week I got to meet one of the people I most admire in my industry: Mellody Hobson. She is the chair of the board of trustees at Ariel Capital Management, the first and the largest African-American mutual fund in the country. She is also one of the few (if not the only...I certainly have never seen another in my 10+ years in the financial industry) black female senior executive at a mutual fund, but you may know her most from her role as the resident financial expert on Good Morning America, or as a featured columnist in Black Enterprise, or for her role as a financial contributor on the Tom Joyner Show.

Mellody talked at great length about being the change you want to see in the world, and living by that motto. It's out of that quote that the Ariel Community Academy, a Chicago-based public school with a curriculum especially focused on finance and investing, was born.

Check out this video, and tell me if it doesn't just make you want to go out and change something: https://www.arielinvestments.com/content/view/106/1066/

#184: Macafouchette (Friday, July 9)

A couple weeks ago, I went to an event and met the most charming woman named Onya. Born to Trinidadian and Jamaican parents, she went to school in Barbados and Trinidad, med school in Philly and now in New York pursuing her dream.

Before I start, let me say this is a FANTASTIC idea. And I'm not just saying that because I'm a foodie (but it certainly does help). Ok, now for the idea:

Macafouchette (French for "what is left on the fork") is the Caribbean version of Yelp. If you've ever visited a new city and wondered where you could get the best Caribbean food in that area, or you've visited a Caribbean restaurant and have comments about the service (or lack thereof), this is the site for you. She even has a N.Y.A.M. score for each restaurant, a punchy little acronym that stands for something witty...I just can't remember what it is right now.

Speaking of witty, her blog posts are just that. Like the one about making roti with Smart Balance, or the one bemoaning the service in Caribbean restaurants, including the infamous and probably most infuriating line, "We don't have that today." I can relate.

So the site is still in construction, but check it out and send Onya your feedback and suggestions. She'd love to hear them.

#183: Wanna Get High? (Friday, July 2)

As humans, one of the things that separates us from the other animals is our ability to choose. Every day, we impact our lives and our futures with each choice we make. Where you are today is a direct result of the choices you've made up to this point.

Today, I want you to choose. There's one person who needs your votes, and she needs it by tomorrow.

Sylvia High is, in one word, phenomal. Her honesty, her stories, her words...everything about her is inspiration. She tells it like it is, but she's not unkind. Within four days of meeting this woman, I'd gone from promising myself I was going to go running, to running every day. I'd gone from writer's block to new ideas and new possibilities. So vote for her on the My Own Show competition on Oprah.com and vote more than once (I already voted 50 times). The deadline is tomorrow, July 2.