My staff and I have been spending far too much time on planes these days. All for good reasons, of course — business meetings and vacations. But still, flying (and the jet lag that comes with it) is pretty unpleasant! We did a survey around the office and here are some of our favourite ways to make the in-flight and post-flight experience a little less… well… awful.

“Mints will help if you feel nauseous after turbulence.”
-André

“Find a way to tire yourself out before flying so that you can sleep through it. Maybe a cardio-kickboxing class pre-flight? Or put yourself into a ‘carb-coma’ by stuffing your face with bread and pasta.”
– Reiko

“I change my watch to my destination’s time as soon as I get on the plane. From that point on I operate on that schedule… even if it means staying up for 28 hours straight, which I did when I flew from Amsterdam to LA.”
– Cat

“Drink lots of water!”
-Nicole

“Bring your own headphones and snacks—there’s infinite pop on board, but snacks are hard to come by. Pretzels and Twizzlers are good, but chips are too messy.”
– Dzeneta

“Don’t fly. Har har.”
– Corinna

“I like to drink lots of apple juice. Also, I try to fall asleep before takeoff.”
– Rebecca

“I bring my own sandwiches because no matter how many times I check off that “gluten-free, vegetarian, dairy-free, egg-free” box, I still end up with the fried freakin’ chicken.”
– Emily

“Find the closest local coffee shop when you get wherever you’re going. You’ll get an energy boost and a taste of local culture!”
– Sarah

“To be best prepared for an early AM meeting, travel in sweats and dress for the meeting when you land at the airport.”
– Aimee

“Only fly in one direction. (Jet lag is much worse going west they say.) If you just continue flying west to get to your destination you never ‘lose’ any time. Financially it might be be prohibitive, however! Oh, and get very drunk on the plane! (You won’t know the difference between the hangover and the jet lag!)”
– Jeannette

I could have used these tips earlier since I’ve just been on four flights in 18 hours!! I’m sooo over flying right now! As for mine…
– Stay hydrated with Fiji water. They sell it at the Toronto airport Starbucks!
– Charge up your cell battery. By my second flight, mine was dead.
– ALWAYS bring candy on the flight. My favorite is Haribo assorted.
– Hopefully have a nice seat mate.
– Wear comfy clothes. You’re not on the runway!

Happy(ish) flying!

XO Natasha

I have some big news to share! Artists for Peace and Justice has just opened their new school in Haiti! It’s called the Academy for Peace and Justice and it’s the first-ever free middle and high school in Port-au-Prince. The school welcomed its first 250 grade seven students this week and over the next few years the student body will grow to 2,800. It’s a big deal because the education system in Haiti has been in a real crisis for some time—over 4,000 schools were destroyed in the earthquake and literacy rates were below 60 percent before the disaster.

If you haven’t heard of Artists for Peace and Justice (APJ), try and spend a few minutes on their web site www.apjnow.org this weekend. It was founded by Oscar-winning writer/director Paul Haggis and friends in 2008. Paul and everyone involved in APJ believe that education is the key to the sustainable recovery of Haiti, and this school is an incredible first step. It’s amazing what people can do when they come together, don’t you think?

XO Natasha

The atmosphere around the office has been extra great lately. Everyone’s really been coming together to get projects off the ground and the new team members have seamlessly fit in… Oh, and Baker Street came by, which means we’ve been eating amazing cakes and pies for days! Anyways, all of these good things reminded me how lucky I am to work at a job I love with a staff I love, too. And it got me thinking about the jobs I’ve had in the past… especially the bad ones. So, because it’s Friday and because bad job stories are so funny, here are some of our personal favourites. (Or should that be least favourites?…)

Rebecca: Library Page
I shelved books according to the Dewey Decimal system. Someone would walk around to make sure I wasn’t reading and I wasn’t really allowed to talk, which was a huge problem for me.

Emily: Hole Digger
I spent an entire summer digging holes in the sand for a beach volleyball league. I would wait around until the games were over, pull the nets out of the holes and refill the holes so that no one would fall in the holes.

Reiko: Assistant Vet Tech.
I spent two summers restraining anxious, diseased and ill-tempered animals while the radiologist did her thing. Ever have a cat pee, poo and vomit on you at the same time? I have.

Kaley: Staple Remover Girl
I removed staples from documents and passed those documents to Scan Girl. To this day, I would rather bite out staples with my teeth than touch a staple remover.

Emma: Corn Detasseler
I spent two weeks of a summer (that’s how long I lasted) walking through cornfields and pulling tassels out of corn stalks.

Aimee: Bakery Girl
I had to wake up at 6 a.m. to make donuts. Delicious indeed, apart from the lard that would cake itself onto all parts of my uniform and the scent of batter that permeated my skin for the three months of

my tenure.

Jeannette: Bookkeeper
When I was a student, I got a part-time job doing the bookkeeping for a small company. Here’s the thing: I lied about my experience! I had no idea what I was doing! It was incredibly stressful and I only lasted 3.5 months.

Kristin: Golf course employee
I was that person who drove that little cart and picked up golf balls on the driving range. Everyone aimed for me!

Katy: Waitress
I only took the job because my mother bullied me into it. Then, after crappy shifts and constant harassment from my aggressive bosses, my iPod was stolen. I quit after three weeks.

Now here’s mine: Finance Co-op Student
My worst job ever was at a financial company. (I thought I wanted to be a stockbroker.) What a disaster! I filed all day and, seriously, at times I wanted to lay my head down on my desk and sleep. If I’d seen the Seinfeld episode where George sleeps under his desk, I would have done that! It was the most drab, low energy environment ever and I decided then and there that I would NEVER ever work at a ‘beige’ job.

What was your worst job ever? Tweet me at twitter.com/natashankpr

XO Natasha

I thought this was too beautiful not to share! See the above images? That’s Benicio Del Toro in Campari’s brand new 2011 calendar! Talk about drama, right? The calendar, which is Campari’s twelfth, is called “The Red Affair” and was unveiled this week in Milan. In it, Del Toro plays the part of a charismatic art connoisseur who has to crack a ring of illegal art dealers and rescue a beautiful woman. The images are so amazing, aren’t they? Very cinematic and very Italian. Only 9,999 copies were printed and it won’t ever go on sale, so keep scrolling down to get your Del Toro fix! (I also get mine by watching Traffic and 21 Grams!)

XO Natasha

I know I blogged about Beautylicious already, but it’s right around the corner (October 28-November 7) and it’s absolutely worth mentioning twice! If you haven’t been to the web site yet, you really should check it out here. There are so many great deals to be had on beauty treats and treatments — it’s really the perfect time to try out that certain something you’ve been dreaming about. If you’re looking for suggestions, think about making a visit to Dr. Torgerson. He has special promotions on Botox and Restylane. He’s also offering free consultations and — this is so cool! — a 3D photo image session so you can see a simulated “before and after.” Not that you need any work, of course. 😉

XO Natasha

So it’s fall and it’s getting cooler outside and I’m thinking about hibernating. Since I’m eating healthy now, comfort foods are out, but comfort movies are in! To help you plan for your own upcoming hibernation, here’s my staff’s combined Top Five All-Time Favourite Films (and its biggest fan!):

BBC’s Pride and Prejudice (Jenna)

Jaws (Jeannette)
Trainspotting (Nicole)
Father of the Bride (Marissa)
Annie Hall (Kaley)

Okay, so one of these picks is a miniseries (see above) andJaws was really only selected by Jeannette so maybe it shouldn’t be on this list (Emma did select “anything with sharks in it” though), but I never said this list was scientific. 😉

By the way, we have loads more on our list from loads more of us. (Dzeneta has a thing for Four Christmases; André likesBraveheart; Cat’s into Mulholland Drive; Katy’s a fan of Some Like it Hot; Corinna‘s seen High Fidelity too many times to count; Victoria thought Julia Roberts was great in Erin Brockovich; Reiko prefers documentaries but she did enjoyFight Club; Bunmi eventually admitted to loving The Sound of Music; Andrea fell in love with Say Anything; Emily is obsessed with everything starring Bill Murray; Rebecca didn’t think twice before choosing Clueless and Aimee swears that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a “film”…) If you want some extra suggestions, tweet me at twitter.com/natashankpr.

Now for my favourites:

‘Til there was you
Sliding Doors
You’ve Got Mail
He’s Just Not That Into You
When Harry Met Sally

Happy hibernation!

I want to give a shout-out to some amazing Canadian designers who unveiled their new collections this week.

Philip Sparks showed his Spring 2011 Collection on Wednesday and it was, of course, incredible! He really does that preppy-chic look better than anyone. AND he’s designing for women now, too! Click here to check it out.

Joeffer Caoc presented his Spring/Summer 2011 designs at the Audi Presents “The Art of Progression” event last night. Here’s some early video. I can’t believe I’m writing this, but the show inspired me to introduce hot pink into my all-black wardrobe!! Seriously, I rarely ever wear any colour, so this is a big deal! Here’s me wearing one of Joeffer’s amazing black dresses at the launch of our new office space back in June of this year (that’s me on the left):

And today, the Greta Constantine Spring/Summer 2011 collection will be showing. I wonder what Kirk and Stephen have come up with this time?

Which Canadian fashion designers do you love? Tweet me at twitter.com/natashankpr

XO Natasha

P.S. Our office is having another Fashion Friday. Today’s theme? Rocker Chick! (+ one Rocker Boy)

A couple quick updates for you today. First off, a reminder to all you professional (and amateur!) bartenders out there – the Bols contest ends on October 20! Break out your favourite Bols liqueurs, add a uniquely Canadian twist and send your ideas to Andrea atandrea@nkpr.net. Your recipe might end up on Bols’ bottle tags in stores all over the country!

Speaking of drinks, I’ll be doing some public speaking this week and I could use a few. Just kidding, of course! I’m actually looking forward to it because I’ll be among friends! I’ll be giving a speech at Strategic Sponsorship Marketing: The Canadian Summit® this Wednesday. On Tuesday, I’ll also be moderating a panel on “Inspiring and Sustaining a Culture of Creativity” at the same event. Julian Armour, Nick Jelinek and Janice Price will be joining me so you know it will be great!

Follow me on Twitter and I’ll let you know how it goes! twitter.com/natashankpr

XO Natasha