SAFUN

Last week I went to a “Girls” happy hour – I don’t do this often but need to! This happy hour was different. It involved a paintbrush and canvas and, yes, of course, wine. We started out at Bin555 Restaurant and Wine Bar located at the Shops of Artisan’s Alley. This was my first time visiting this area. They have cute little shops and restaurants. After a glass of wine, we went next door to  “Painting with a Twist.” It is an art studio with two classrooms.  The idea is simple: bring your girlfriends, some wine and get ready to paint. It is $35 per person and you are provided with an instructor and all the materials needed to make a piece of artwork. They allow you to bring in a picnic – we brought wine!

My cousin organized this girl’s night out and there were about ten of us ladies. We each had a place setting with a blank canvas, paint and paintbrushes. Our project was The Starry Night. Please note, you don’t have to be an artist! I don’t paint so I was a bit intimidated at first, however, the instructor takes you step by step and encourages you to make it your own. The Starry Night sounded like a project way over my head but after a glass of wine (and the understanding that this is not going to be graded), I became more comfortable. We of course had lots of laughs! I think it’s healthy to allow yourself to be creative whether it’s writing, painting, drawing, making pottery. Mine is writing and I usually keep my stuff very private.  So painting with friends over a glass of wine was definitely liberating.

I highly recommend Painting with a Twist for a night out with your girlfriends. I will certainly being going again. Here’s a photo I took on my iPhone.

One of the coolest things about working in my industry and doing what I do for the Rackspace Cloud is that I get to see all the innovative things people are doing on the Internet. The entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in America and since everyone needs a place to a host their website, I am fortunate enough to work with many of these passionate and talented people, including San Antonian, Magaly Chocano.

Back in August, I came across a TIME article titled “New Ways to Create iPhone Apps on the Cheap.” I had just purchased my iPhone so any iPhone app article interested me. The company was SwebApps. After reading through the article, I noticed that they were a San Antonio based startup. I was instantly proud that we had a tech start up right here in San Antonio. Then I thought, “I wonder where they are hosted?”  Turns out they were a Rackspace Cloud customer. I invited Magaly, CEO and Founder of SwebApps, to the Rackspace Cloud office. What a treat! I had the opportunity to interview her and do a blog posting. Turns out, we knew many of the same people through various connections.

Just recently, she entered in our Super Bowl Contest and submitted an extremely cool video. Magaly is not only a successful businesswoman but a talented musician. The contest asked customers to submit a video on why they have the coolest business on the Rackspace Cloud and this is what we received from SwebApps:

I had the opportunity to attend the Twitter Conference in LA this past week. You may not get Twitter so you may wonder, what the heck is a Twitter conference? People come together to talk about this disruptive platform Twitter – how does one use Twitter, why does one use Twitter, best & worst practices on Twitter, tips and tricks for Twitter. It’s a Twitterathon and it’s lots of fun!

A Twitter conference in Los Angeles is a bit different than any other Twitter conference, I’m sure. We had celebrity guests such as Tony Hawk, Chamillionaire, Dr. Drew, Levar Burton (my childhood idol), Tyrese and yes, even Pee Wee Herman (Jason’s childhood idol) himself made a guest appearance. I actually got to witness Pee Wee Herman do his very first Tweet. I took a photo and here is also a video that Scott Beale of Laughing Squid took:

Twitter is making a lot of noise and it can be overwhelming to keep up with. I really liked Tony Robbins speech and he said that he likes to think of Twitter as more like a “Trigger.” It’s an opportunity to initiate a connection but doesn’t substitute for a human relationship. And it’s easy to get so consumed with all the noise but he said “Don’t let technology use you; you use technology.” This sat really well with me. You may have read my previous post on Twitter but if not, I’d like to just reinstate why I use Twitter. I think it’s an opportunity to help, inspire and connect with others. Often times, we get so consumed by the negative coming out of the media that it overshadows the good in the world. Yes, many do use Twitter to spread negativism but because I can choose who I follow and what I want to hear, I see more positive than negative. And for me, I can now influence others even outside my own local community. The way we communicate is changing and we are able have an impact others at  an exponential level. However, the fundamentals of human relationships remain the same.

Sonia Rodriguez from Got Hair? salon in San Antonio, Texas entered the cover contest for the 2009 Texas Stylist and Salon Newspaper. She submitted 3 different looks from 3 different models and one of her looks won! She did an edgy cut with a hot shade of red.

Sonia is married to a co-worker of mine at PEER 1, Joe Rodriguez,  and together they own and operate their new hair salon, Got Hair? Sonia has been doing hair for 11 years. She is very passionate about what she does and definitely has an eye for style. I recommend her to anyone in the local San Antonio area. She has also been featured in the NSIDE San Antonio November 2008 issue.

Sonia is young, smart and beautiful and a great role model for our San Antonio community. Great job Sonia!