Several weeks ago I saw Valet. make mention of Sydney Hale Co., a hand poured candle making company based in Virginia.  Valet. boasted the company as:

a family owned fragrance house making small-batch candles out of Arlington, VA in a variety of subtle, masculine scents at an affordable price. The wax is soy, made from American-grown beans, which means no soot or smoke and a less intense fragrance compared to traditional paraffin candles.

The Cocoa + Espresso scent is what brought me to the website, hoping to find reviews of the candle.  Alas, none were on the site and Google didn’t yield any results along the lines of what I was looking for.  Chocolate scents tend not to translate very well, although the essence of coffee and chocolate is an attractive one to me.

The Decision

Also present on the list of candles was Tobacco + Sandalwood.  Although I’m not a smoker, I do enjoy the smell of a good pipe being thoughtfully puffed on nearby.  Sandalwood is a scent that I don’t care for when it comes directly from a piece of the wood, however, I’m absolutely thrilled with the scent of The Art of Shaving’s Sandalwood Preshave Oil.

I decided I’d give it a go.  The cost after shipping was $27 which translates into $0.54 per hour of burn.

The Review

The first thing that I noticed is that the jar is as beautiful and classic as it appears in the pictures.  The second thing I noticed was that the smell is nothing like what I’d imagined.

The closest thing I know to describe the scent as is baby powder.  It’s a light scent that’s also sort of refreshing.  Although it’s not what I expected, it does make for a nice winter scent. (I’m big on dividing scents by season.)  Its light, reserved and mellow nature makes it a natural to keep in the bathroom, a room that’s usually too small and poorly circulated to keep a scented candle without being knocked out of your boots every time you walk into the room.

Will I buy another Tobacco + Sandalwood candle?  I don’t know.  But I do like it enough that I think I’ll try some of the other scents.  Possibly the Mint + Geranium or the Agave + Honeysuckle for Spring or the Sea Salt + Bay Rum or Grapefruit + Orange for Summer.

Who knows — maybe I’ll even get around to taking a gamble on the Cocoa + Espresso.

Last night, by the time I reached “I knew an old lady who swallowed a horse”, she was prepared to cut me off and end with “swallowed a buck”.  Improv everywhere.

After the lady swallowed a buck (oh, what luck! she swallowed a buck!) I was shocked to find out that the lady had also swallowed a bull.  (She was so full!  She swallowed a bull!)

It will be interesting to find out what she swallowed between the bull and horse the next time around.

Also, take a minute to, in one breath, sing “She swallowed the bull to catch the buck, she swallowed the buck to catch the cow, she swallowed the cow to catch the goat, she swallowed the goat to catch the dog, she swallowed the dog to catch the cat, she swallowed the cat to catch the bird, she swallowed the bird to catch the spider that wiggled and jiggled and tickled inside her…”

Although I’ve been to dozens of boutique hotels, this one is unique among the unique.

Once a row of six boarded up and dilapidated Victorian-style row houses built in the 1880s, The Porches now is a row of rooms self-described as “retro-edgy” and connected by a long, comfortable porch complete with rocking chairs.

You can grab a book in the study and read by the fireplace during the snowy North Adams, Massachusetts months or, if you’re visiting while the Green Mountains (just a few minutes up the highway) are still Green, grab a book from the study and head out to the porch with a slice of fresh-cut slice of watermelon and a cold glass of lemonade from the pitcher in Reception.

Once the evening turns cooler, head to the sauna, pool, or meeting room where a big screen TV and surround sound sit.  During my visit this room was relatively unused and with only 47 rooms on the property, my guess is you can pretty much catch any Big Game on any given night in this room.

Overall, I had a great time at this hotel and could see myself coming here again for a 3-5 day trip to relax, take in the Mass MoCA, hike the nearby trails, explore the Williams College campus and just unwind.

Pictures: Here
Try: The Nutella, Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich at Brewhaha
Bonus: Best tap water I’ve ever had

To set your Twitter entries to automatically “ping” to your other social networking sites (Brightkite, Plurk, Facebook, etc.) follow these quick and easy steps.

1. Login to your Twitter account on Twhirl.

2. Open the Configuration for your account.

3. Click the Key to find out what your Ping.fm Desktop / Web Key is.

4. Login to Ping.fm if you aren’t already logged in and copy your Desktop / Web Key.

5. Paste the key into the field in Twhirl.

6. Save and you’re all set.

My favorite part is that the code is smart enough to tell Ping.fm not to post your tweet back to Twitter again, so there’s only one copy of your Twhirl post across the board.

I don’t have plans to go anywhere, but the last international trip I took was planned three weeks in advance.

That trip landed Kevin and me in Peru on New Year’s Eve enjoying a culture and a land whose beauty you can sense is thousands of years old; a much needed oasis from our long hours at the office.

We hiked Huayna Picchu in the rain, had multiple massages at $40/hr a pop, fed the llamas, sipped coca tea by the fire, and ate “real deal” Peruvian chicken while overlooking the ocean.

All born from three weeks’ planning.

The Itch

In the past couple of weeks I’ve been bitten by the travel bug again.

New York, DC, Cambria, and Boston, I love you — I really do.  But this time an American town just won’t do it for me.

I find that I’m American in loyalty, but vagabond in spirit; my stomach churning with the desire to see Kerger Park again.  Able to taste Zurich in my mouth.  Cairns, Australia filling my nostrils and the Mediterranean filling my dreams.

I suffer from theresickness; like homesickness, but rather than ache to be home, I ache to be “there”.

My name is Shaun and I’m an addict.

Sweet and Tart

I am a learner by nature.  I want to know the most important 10-20% about every topic there is.  Learning is one of life’s simple pleasures.

But to travel is to experience.  And experience takes the simple pleasure of learning and turns it into a rich delicacy unparalleled in taste and color and texture by anything else I’ve ever known.

I want to stare mindlessly into the Japanese gardens of Osaka while sipping tea.  I want to roam the streets sprouting from Florida Street in Buenos Aires.  I want to strain my neck looking up to see the top of the Eiffel Tower and I want to peer down from Taipei Tower.

To learn. To experience. To live and to see and to eat.

And so I crave travel.  And so my passport can no longer remain expired.

I recently received an e-mail that stated

I guess the bigger problem is that I’m paralyzingly intimidated when I feel like I’m talking to/working with someone who knows more than I do, because I’m afraid of being made to feel stupid when I don’t know everything they know, or have an idea that they already KNOW is the dumbest idea ever.

There are only a few people who I don’t have this problem with, namely you and [redacted], because you are both so patient and especially not condescending.

I think the key is to treat life like one big brainstorming opportunity.

My Free Trade Agreement

Most of life is spent trading thoughts and ideas. At some point you have thoughts and ideas that should be given to others.  At some point others have thoughts and ideas that you will find useful.

Each time you know something that someone else doesn’t or vice versa, it is an opportunity to trade.  An opportunity to trade is an opportunity to improve on each other’s ideas.  Trade freely.

Some Thoughts About Thoughts

• Don’t form opinions until you have enough facts. In addition, when you receive facts, “trust, but verify“.
  
• Don’t be embarrassed to ask questions about what you don’t know.  At some point everyone didn’t know what they now know.  The only way they found out was through asking questions.
• When others don’t know something, “be patient and especially not condescending”. How will they find out if they don’t ask?  Just because I came across the facts first doesn’t mean you won’t understand the facts or even have a better application of those facts.
• When you come across information that you think someone might find useful, pass it on. Even if they haven’t asked for it, they will probably find it interesting at least.  At most, it will help them form a better understanding of the subject.
• Anyone can learn.  Wise people are willing to un-learn and re-learn. Keeping an open mind and re-evaluating facts, ideas and opinions on a regular basis are critical to being wise.

Those are my thoughts on thoughts.  Leave yours in the comments section near the title of this post.

Late last week I allowed myself to follow an advertisement on a website.  Very rarely do I follow an online ad, but the advert offered something for free.

Believing that I may enjoy the product that was being offered for free and decide to become a user of the product, I followed the link.

However, the page the link took me to required that I give my full name, mailing address, and e-mail address before they would let me try their product.  This is not the same as free.

The cost to try their product (giving away my direct marketing information) was still a higher price than I was willing to pay — even for a product that I believe I may like and become a loyal consumer of.  I left the website and will not be trying their product.

Try Before You Buy

Last night I had the opportunity to visit the new Raleigh Airport Cambria Suites at the expense of the Choice Hotels company.

The cost to try their product was getting to the Suites.

Additionally, there were several added values.

• Although I attended their half hour pitch of why I should become a Cambria Suites developer, attending the pitch was not required.
• After the pitch was an extremely expensive cocktail hour and steak dinner at the Capitol City Chophouse across the street that was comped by Choice.
• I was able to make wonderful use of their featured common area to mix and mingle with others in my field, making valuable contacts.

Cambria let me try their product without asking for something from me first.  This is truly free.

Cambria now has a new customer with a moderate to high sense of loyalty as well as a customer who, having tried and liked their product, will recommend their product to friends.  Additionally, my company is now seriously considering being a Cabria Suites developer.

The Rules of Free

If you’re going to give something away for free to drum up new business, have enough faith in your product to give it away and expect your customer to love it so much they won’t be able to stay away once they’ve tried it.  It’s only free if there’s nothing required in return.

If you don’t have enough faith in your product to expect a customer to try it and love it, you need to find a new product.

• “Huh?” from the newer baristas.  I’m not sure if French presses aren’t very well covered in training or if they just hit it so infrequently and/or it’s in such an awkward place on the cash register that it’s difficult to find.
• “Good choice!” Again, I’m assuming that it’s a lesser made beverage and a change of pace is nice.

The allure of a French Press to me is that for about three and a half bucks you can enjoy a cup of coffee whose oils haven’t been filtered out.  It’s fresh, it’s hot, and it’s whatever blend you want it to be (not just whatever blend they happened to brew today).

It’s a time out in the day where you can simultaneously relax and focus.

You can chat with a friend, strategize with a co-worker, or sip while you read a good book.

For all the talk about “$5 coffee” and Starbucks’ drinks just being milkshakes, I still find that my favorite beverages are either around $2 (iced coffee or espresso con panna) or about $3.50.  In this economy, it’s nice to find something that will increase your quality of life at that price.

This team is a group of retired GSA personnel who has spent significant time as GSA employees and are known as the most experienced in their field.  Each team member has 25+ years of experience as a GSA employee.  These highly experienced contractors work part time on difficult or highly specialized projects from GSA.

The front will look like our usual company business card, but the back will be more representative of the message we are trying to convey with the Signature Team.

When designing the card, I considered that we are selling the services of our government “premium brand“.  Each of the members of the Signature Team has a significant and very personal set of experiences that they’re able to pull from.  Each member has also spent significant time serving GSA and the government.

With that in mind, the back of the cards were created to:

• Conjure the idea of a premium label.
• Keep the company logo as the most prominent part in the hierarchy of the card.
• The Signature Team “Edwardian Script ITC” font is used as the next most significant piece of the card to solidify branding with our Signature Team branding effort.
• Each card is personalized to emphasize the idea that the experience of each member is unique; no other person has their collection of experiences and it’s what makes them most suitable for certain tasks.
• Each card contains the real signature of the card holder adding value to the card by highlighting that each team member has abilities as unique as their signature.
• Next to their name is the number of years they were public servants gaining experience and leading up to their ability to be the leading expert in their respective field.