Transitions

I hope you had a great Labor Day Holiday. This holiday celebrates the labor movement and workers everywhere. It also ushers in the end of Summer and the beginning of school. It is more of a transition than the granddaddy of holidays, New Year's Eve.  While New Year's Eve is a night of reflection and aspiration, Labor Day ushers in sheer terror. It means that it's time to get back to work for everyone. The transition is abrupt and rough. In this week's Loupe, I hope to help you make the transition a little bit easier ...

Goodbye Fiction 

The end of the Summer means gone are the days of reading The New York Times Bestselling fiction (romance and spy) novel on the beach. It is time to get back to business, and that means reading non-fiction and reading with a purpose.

Pocket
App

I love to consume information. However, my attention span expands throughout the day, and therefore first thing in the AM only the NY Post will do. Then, as my brain warms up, I can ease into the Wall Street Journal. Nonetheless, due to time constraints, I prioritize in the mornings and come back to longer, more involved articles that piqued my interest later in the day. For the news that I want to focus deeper on, archive, and read again or share with a friend/colleague, I use the app Pocket. This browser add-in allows me to merely press pocket, and it will be easily saved on my devices (computer, iPad, phone) to circle back to later when my critical morning tasks are complete. Pocket also sources great content from other users that you can browse by popular, what's trending, or subject matter. Happy(ish) reading!
 

Liner
App

There are times I just want to take a small snippet from an article rather than preserving the entire article. In those cases, I use Liner (another browser add-in) which allows me to highlight key sentences or paragraphs. All you need to do after adding the app is press the Tilde ~ Button --- you know the one above the Tab and next to the 1 on your keyboard that you never use. Now, you have that amazing quote stored and easily searchable so that you may use it in a presentation or share it with a friend/colleague. It plays nicely with Pocket, and here pertinent information (to you) can be stored and preserved. As an aside, this is also a great app for citations for school papers! 

So Long Rosé

Código 1530 Rosa
Food/Beverage

Fellow Louper and frequent contributor Greg M. introduced me to the wonders of Código 1530 Rosa. These tequila guys have taken their fantastic Blanco product and aged it exactly one month in uncharred Napa Cabernet French White Oak barrels. The Blanco, according to the manufacturer, then utilizes 7-year-old fully mature agave, Amatitán water from freshwater pools and rainwater (filtered through the volcanic soil of Los Bajos), and organic yeast from a small family bakery in Amatitán. The result is a pink tinged tequila that has subtle notes from the Cabernet, thus producing a Rosé color. Hence, you can now safely bring rosé into the Fall via Tequila!

Beer Menus
Food/Beverage, App

The end of the Summer signifies the start of something new ... football season. Football season means it's time to drink beer and a lot of it. You don't have to reach for Budweiser, Miller, and/or Coors just because they own all the advertising spots ... go pick yourself up some craft beer! Gone are the days where the big boys of brewing had a lock on what we drink. Sure, they still own upward of 80% of the market, but there is plenty of room in that 20% for discovery. Just like wine, I frequently revisit the beers that I know I like, rather than try new ones. Call it a habit, or the way our brain works, but sometimes it is important to force ourselves out of our comfort zone and discover new things. Beer Menus was introduced to me by beer-loving and guzzling Louper Gabe L., and it is an app that will help your beer discovery process along. It shows you a list of bars, as well as which beers they have on tap. If they have Bud Light and Blue Moon, you may want to find somewhere else to watch the game. It showed me the beer shop and tasting room CitySwiggers on the UES, which has 14 beers on tap (rotates weekly) and sells over 700 beers in the store. This incredible variety of beers to taste, combined with an incredible variety of beers for sale to bring home, will help you find your new favorite brewski. I've become partial to the Allagash St. Klippenstein 2015 which they have on tap, and I brought home in my reusable Growler. This app may even help you find beer aficionados, like yourself, wherever you are! 
 

Hasta la Vista Fake Workouts

Inscape Meditation
45 W 21st St, New York, NY 10010
Fitness

Started by Intermix CEO, Inscape offers group guided meditation in a unique and zen like environment in the heart of the flatiron district. Walk in and feel an immediate sense of calm! No more traffic on Long Island Expressway, no more summer party-hopping, no more kids seeking your attention, just you and your practice. Choose from 2 perfectly appointed studios, and relax your way through the meditations. Go first thing in the AM, during lunch, or after work and enjoy this real escape from this urban jungle!

Tone House
201 E 71st St, New York, NY 10021
32 E 31st St, New York, NY 10016
Fitness

Let me start by saying that now I know I am not in shape. I thought I was in decent shape after the Summer until I stepped on the turf at Tone House. It was only a beginner class (yikes), and I was given a reality check that my fake Summer workouts just didn't cut it! The Tone House gym and experience are quite intimidating; I'm not going to lie. The experience is like stepping into a club (dark, red lights, and loud music) where you are joining a team of people that you don't know who are probably in better shape than you (at least me). There is no hiding in your own little space because you are actually doing the workout in lines with your teammates. They are cheering you on so you can't let them down. To be honest, I was exhausted after the "warm-up!" This was the kick start I needed for my transition out of Summer. This is a workout that I need to master. This is Tone House!

May your transition into Fall be a smooth one, and consider Pocket, Liner, Código 1530 Rosa, Beer Menus, Inscape and Tone House Found!