‘Coca-Cola’ Articles at Sweetnicks

Summer Bucket List 2013

July 2, 2013 · Narrative

*click to make it larger

And so it shall be written.

Our official Summer Bucket List for this year. It might look a little ambitious, but thankfully we have already done a few things on the list.

As for the rest? Many, many free and fun activities. Many plans to discover special local areas that we have not yet visited. And really just an all ’round determination to eek every bit of joy we can out of the summer season.

Despite the non-stop rain, rain, rain, humidity, humidity, humidity cycle that has been the last three weeks.

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Come Together and Pass the FUZE {Giveaway!}

November 10, 2012 · Ad-Free

I can hardly believe that Thanksgiving is less than two weeks away. Besides the fact that it’s a few days early this year, we were seriously gypped with Hurricane Sandy robbing us of Halloween (and, of course, so many fellow New Jerseyans are still without power as I write this). That being said, the positive thing about Thanksgiving being right around the corner is that it’s the universal signal to start eating comfort food.

Hell to the oh yeah.

In fact, I’m not even going to wait that long. As I plan our menu for dinner with guests tomorrow, it’s all.about.the.comfort.food.

Because after 8 days of being without power, there is nothing more I’d like to do than to wrap myself up with a warm blanket of mashed potatoes and gravy.

Yeahbuddy.

Now speaking of coming together for the holidays, the folks behind FUZE juices are about to help YOU come together in a fun giveaway. To the tune of a $50 Amex gift card for one lucky winner.

Before I get to the details on that, they were also kind enough to send us a package of their FUZE juices (a product from The Coca-Cola Company). The kids, particularly my oldest, have gotten into the habit of tearing open boxes before they’re barely in the house. With Christmas coming, and online shopping underway, I delivered a gentle lecture that if someone accidentally tears into a box that is not addressed to them, and it turns out to be a Christmas present, then it’s getting donated.

And that was the end of that.

But not before they had torn into the box of FUZE juices that landed on our doorstep. Nick finished the Strawberry Lemonade flavor in one weekend. And loved it. With only 15 calories per bottle, it also boasts 1330 mcg of Vitamin A, 120 mg of Vitamin C, and five more important vitamins and nutrients. Although it does contain a bit of sucralose, we keep a keen eye on artificial flavors, and it’s the exception, not the norm.

And now the good part… in the spirit of coming together, I would love for you to create a Pinterest board with the theme “Come Together and Pass the FUZE.” On it, share any meal ideas or recipes that you enjoy (or might enjoy!) with your friends and loved ones. I bet you know the perfect dishes to include, especially with Thanksgiving planning in full swing. Your entry for the $50 Amex gift card will be by commenting below with the link to your “Come Together and Pass the FUZE” Pinterest board. Additional entries (after the first required Pinterest board) can come by way of following me and/or Coca-Cola on Twitter, tweeting this post, and/or following me on Pinterest and Instagram. So after the first required entry, that’s 5 more entries you can have!

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Coca-Cola’s Wendy Clark: Balance is a False Goal

June 27, 2011 · Narrative

People seem to come into your life at just the right moment. Exactly when you need them. Or their message. Such is the case with Wendy Clark. I had the pleasure of meeting Wendy last week, while at the Conversations with Coca-Cola conference. One of the segments of the conference featured a panel of women leaders at Coca-Cola. The company has a women’s leadership group of sixteen, and we were lucky enough to hear from four of them. The leadership program was born from a need to have women represented in key leadership positions at Coca-Cola, and each of the women we met were down-to-earth, congenial, crazy smart, empowering and inspiring. Wendy was one of them.

One of the things I struggle with most is balance. To have enough of ME to give to my work, my kids, my home, and still manage to have a little bit left over to give back to myself. I feel like I am constantly juggling balls and not giving myself completely, enough, to anything. It’s a matter of keeping the balls all up in the air, letting nothing crash to the ground. It’s an impossible feat. And the process can make you crazy. As part of our morning program at the conference, we had to create a vision board that briefly highlighted where we were in our lives, what we were trying to achieve and how we were going to get there. Our morning quickly turned into something that resembled a Kindergarten craft time session, as the invited bloggers clipped photos from magazines, and taped and colored our way to our own personal masterpieces. The left part of my board depicted a frazzled mom and the words “fed up.” The right side of the board featured pictures of a serene, simple and content life. As I got up to speak in front of everyone, I talked about how I felt like I was always juggling and that I felt like I wasn’t devoting enough attention to any one thing at the right time. You know, the classic being pulled in all directions scenario that most women struggle with. After all the bloggers presented their boards and accompanying thoughts,we heard from the women’s leadership panel. And Wendy’s words were the most important that I would hear during that conference.

Wendy Clark, Senior VP, Integrated Marketing and Communications at Coca-Cola, might have possibly changed my life on Monday. At the very least, how I operate within it. She said “Balance is a false goal. I will not let the family I love be in a tug of war with the job I love. I won’t pit them against each other. You need to divide your life into little slices … work, family, home, spouse … and give yourself completely to that slice at that moment. If you’re at work, you give it 100% when you’re there. When you’re with your family, they get 100% of you.” Of course, she went on to say that there will be the occasional interruption or fire that needs to be taken care of. That’s life. But the idea of giving up on trying to balance everything, trying to juggle everything at the same time … that was exactly what I needed to hear. Right then.

The Coca-Cola conference was designed to talk to us about what they’re doing as a company (did you know they voluntarily pulled all their vending machines out of elementary and middle schools?), how they’re giving back (like their Sprite Sparks Parks initiative), and some of their partnerships (McDonald’s anyone?), but they gave me, and the rest of the bloggers, so much more. Everything is suddenly much more clear. Of course, life is still not without its challenges. What life would it be otherwise? But I learned that the biggest and best way for me to be committed to anyone, to anything, is to give of them fully and completely in that moment. If I’m with my kids, I’m with my kids. If I’m working, I’m working. There will surely be overlap here and there; it’s unavoidable sometimes. I will continue to go in ten different directions. That’s my life. But I will focus on one direction at a time.

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The Message? Live Positively

June 9, 2011 · Narrative

“Be like a duck and let it roll off you.”

When a drop of water hits a duck’s feathers, it’s like a little bead and rolls right off them. The mantra “be like a duck and let it roll of you” is something we refer to in our family (and extensions thereof). I introduced the kids’ old babysitter, Jamie, to the credo early last year, when she was having problems with her roommates. There was a lot of quacking going on for a few months for her, but it all worked out. She moved in with us for the summer, and distanced herself from the trouble. Girls that really weren’t her friends. For me, it’s akin to “don’t sweat the small things.” Will this problem still haunt you five years from now? Next week even? No? Then move the heck on. Most problems in life are like that. Little annoyances that pop in and threaten to ruin an otherwise good day.

A nap-free three-year-old who is having a pre-dinner meltdown? I could get aggravated by it, but the easiest (and best) solution for all was to scoop everyone up, pack up a quick picnic dinner and head to the park for the kids to blow off some of their steam and unbridled energy.

An 8-year-old who frets about a friendship? Explain that we don’t have to be friends with everyone, but we do have to be kind. It was a lesson we talked a bit about again last week.

Nick’s school had “Olympic Day,” which is like their version of an end-of-year field day. As one of the Class Moms, I had to be there for a large portion of the day (note to self: wear sunblock next time to avoid farmer’s tan). Midway through the morning, I caught sight of one of Nick’s classmates, Dan, sitting down on the grass in tears. There’s nothing like seeing a boy at that age cry, whether he’s mine or not. It does nothing shy of break my heart. They’re supposed to be all tough and macho and muddy, full of rough and tumble. When they crumple, I do too. He was being picked on by another classmate.

“He keeps calling me names. He’s not being nice. And it’s my birthday!”

I felt terrible. His eyes welling up again as he was trying to tell me what happened. He was trying to fight back the tears. Nick had wedged himself in the middle, literally and figuratively, and was taking sides with Dan. My kid, who weighs all of 63 lbs soaking wet, was sticking up to the bully-of-the-day for his friend. Man, I love that kid.

“Do you know what I tell Nick all the time? Be like a duck and let it roll off you. Ignore what the other kid is saying to you. Walk away. Go hang out with your friends and forget about his words. He is just trying to get a reaction out of you.”

“But he’s ruining my day. It’s my birthday!”

“YOU are in control of your day. He is not. Don’t let this seep in and ruin it for you. You can’t cry on your birthday. Let’s think about how you’re going to celebrate. Are you doing anything special with your family?”

“Yes,” he said, brightening up immediately, “We’re going to Sonic!”

Sonic really *does* make everything better, doesn’t it?

There are many lessons I work on regularly to impart on my kids. Not getting bogged down by other people’s negativity is a huge one. Sometimes you can’t help the things that happen to you. It’s not in your control. What you CAN control, however, is how you handle it. How you react to your situation. And I’ll be darned if someone else is going to ruin my day (or my kids’) just for the sport of it.

It’s about living positively. And living passionately. And living intentionally.

These are small, but hugely important, lessons that I want to drill into my kids because they are lessons that can serve them well for years to come, whether they’re 3, 13 or 53. I can teach them to clean up after themselves, to do chores around the house, how to cook a solid meal while paying strict homage to the food pyramid, and how to master the multiplication tables even if it kills us all, but all those things pale in comparison to learning how to treat others and how to treat themselves.

Be nice. Live life. Love others. Can I get a chorus of kumbaya?

A few weeks ago, I received an e-mail asking if I wanted to attend an event put on by Coca-Cola and McDonald’s. In Atlanta. They’ll pay my expenses. So besides the fact that I practically live on McDonald’s yogurt parfaits and am powered some days solely by Diet Coke and lots of laughter, I get an opportunity to cross Atlanta off my bucket list of cities never visited? I didn’t even need to finish reading the e-mail to know my answer. But then, being all practical and all, I read it through to the end. During my visit, I get to visit with top leaders from Coca-Cola and learn about their message of living positively. Pinch me. I’m a lucky girl. I can’t wait to hear what they have to say. And, um, hello Atlanta! And a few hours on a plane where someone isn’t pulling at me asking me for goldfish, milk with a straw and how to do remainders in division? Color me happy.

So that’s next week’s adventure. In the meantime, though, the folks putting on the event would like some help from you … are there any burning questions you have for the masterminds behind Coca-Cola and/or McDonald’s? Something you’d like to know? Ask? Say? Please share with me so I can share with them.

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