By Will, Dan, James and Trina

So we’ve been quiet on the blog lately and not posting as regularly. The reason for this? We’ve been working away quietly in the background on a new enterprise from the Leading Associates team. We’re not ready to pull back the curtains on this one just yet, but while it’s in development our regular postings maybe turbulent at best.

So, stay tuned and we’ll let you know what’s coming next.

By Trina

There are certain situations and events that have a significant amount of permanence attached to them.  Since leaving the comforts of Iowa and emancipating from my parents, I’ve come across said situations/events and found myself getting a serious case of cold feet.  The very thought of passing these milestones terrifies me in a peculiar way.  Maybe I have some crazy ideas that they will tie me down a bit more than I want to be, or they will attach me to one particular place (I haven’t a clue yet where I want to put down roots).  Whatever the cause of my phobia, I’m going to divulge my ridiculous commitment issues, and I ask you to comment if you share any of these feelings (help me feel less nuts).

A lot of my initial cold feet feelings came during my time in Rhode Island.  I had moved out there for work…

By Daniel

Oh, shit… quite literally. I’m out of toilet paper again.

Unfortunately, the timing of this realization finds me sitting on the ivory throne with my pants at my ankles. I immediately flash back to earlier in the day when I made the observation that my roll was getting to its last rotation. Cursing myself, I start the ass out waddle to the cupboards at the other end of the bathroom. I pause and hope to god there’s one more roll left in my stash of Charmin Ultra… Fail!

I don’t know how many times laziness has kicked in and I’ve neglected to do what I should and succumbed to what I want. I should have switched out my toilet paper, but I wanted to quickly get back to 30 Rock that was paused on hulu. It’s in that moment of decision many of us fall victim to a lazy mindset and neglect good sense.

Our…

By Trina

This Saturday will mark my 25th year of life on Earth. Unlike many other birthdays, this one is a major milestone year for me. My life isn’t exactly planned out, but there are things I would like to do by the time I reach 25, 30, 40, 50, 65, etc. This year the annual event has caused me to do a deeper than normal self reflection, and I’ve been brutally hard on myself.

The first thoughts that came when I realized that I was actually going to be 25 were very negative ones. I haven’t gotten a masters degree, I’m not living in the downtown of a glamorous city, I’m not in love with my job, I’m not one step away from engagement which will lead to marriage prior to 30 and children prior to 35, I haven’t lived in Europe, I’m still 10 lbs heavier than I want to be, I don’t have enough money for the down payment on a house, I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up…and the list goes on and on. I began to feel bogged down by my disappointment with myself.

by James

I’m cautious by nature. I put money in to my savings first before spending; am always early as I’m afraid of being late (actually scared of it!) and d…
This is the way I am and I don’t intend to make a radical u-turn any time soon, but I do sometimes wonder what my life would be like if I did spend all my money on having a good time, turn up when I felt like it and let my hair down completely (this is obviously just a metaphor as I don’t have any hair to let down!).

By Trina

We live in a world that teaches us from the beginning not to talk to strangers, and it’s not shocking that when we get older we have trust issues with our fellow humans. I am usually skeptical of every other person around me and hope they won’t try to rob or sexually assault me (that might be the scared little small-town girl inside of me). Then there are the times where you let your guard down, and some jerk store takes advantage of you – that’s right, you know who you are car fixer guy in Woonsocket, RI. On the flip side, I find it hard to trust the people I work with on a daily basis. It seems like everyone has some sort of anti-you agenda, and this planet is every man for his/herself.

That is why when I boarded my plane last night from Fort Lauderdale to Dallas I had every intention of sitting down, writing a superb LA article I had promised to Dan (hadn’t a clue what to write) and not talking to any strangers. Enter: adorable 30-something Texan blonde woman. She started talking to me about how she was a little nervous about flying. It seemed harmless enough, so I chatted to her about pretty surface level topics (weather, flying, why we were both in town, etc). After all, I couldn’t start my article during taxiing anyways, right?

By Trina

I have always and will always love stories of sweeping, epic romance. As a child I was captivated by such stories mainly in the form of movies (from the Little Mermaid to the Thorn Birds). The over-arching theme was always attractive couples with a spark that never died. I dedicate a good portion of my free time to examining that everlasting spark by watching romantic comedies and fantasizing about romances. In fact, last Saturday night was an intensive night of research in the form of watching Bridget Jones’s Diary and Notting Hill (a dual-themed night: rom coms and London…pretty wild night). If my hours of study have taught me anything, it is that relationships are rarely “perfect” or “fairytale” but rather bipolar in nature. Love’s manic highs and crushing lows have given me a reality check on romance and caused me to hurt my brain thinking about it.

By Will

I was in my little grocery store the other day doing what I usually do - cruising the aisles looking for my Reese’s Cups when really I should have been knocking stuff off my shopping list. I found my Reese’s by the way - awesome. I chucked a left down to the sauces section looking for some mustard. Saw the mustard, sidled over and scanned the shelf - dijon, Grey Poupon, French’s Yellow Mustard, Colman’s Mustard (the shizzle!), wholegrain, honey, spicy, brown. I spent a good 5 minutes deciding which one I wanted. I actually picked up jars and looked at them - at one stage I compared two jars. For what? Colour intensity or something? I don’t know why I stood there comparing mustard. It occurred to me afterwards it’s because I had so much choice.

By Trina

In college, I was really busy, pushed myself extremely hard, had a social life and always had a spring in my step. In a typical day (even with minimal caffeine), I could workout, go to several classes, put in a few hours of work and read for lecture the next day. On the weekends, I would frequent the downtown Iowa City watering holes, and I might have enjoyed the occasional 6 AM tailgate. That was then… These days (even with enough caffeine to kill a small animal) I seem to get really tired after doing less, walk a little slower and carry more weight on my shoulders. It is almost as if one year of working has aged me greatly. Maybe it is a combination of working, stress and paying bills all while trying to look fabulous or perhaps it is just adulthood. Has adulthood killed my spark? 24 hit hard, and I’m a little afraid of 25. I just feel…old.

by James

With the increasing levels of terrorism, civil war, piracy and greedy bankers I was starting to become more and more bewildered with my fellow citizens on this planet of ours. Then on Sunday, I experienced something that made me stop and think that it’s not all doom and gloom and there are good people in the world.