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LUXURY SHAME OR JUST SHAME IN GENERAL: Spending money these days may create baggage…

US News and World Report recently published an article on materialism and whether or not things make you happy. I go back and forth on this myself, but as a marketer that is dedicated to helping my clients (both in the luxury and the “masstige” arena) promote their products, it’s definitely a question to consider. After all, if everyone decides “things” don’t make us happy, then my clients might be out of luck.

Happy? That’s a relative term. Happy means different things to different people. In fact, many cultures don’t even have a word for happy. Joy and satisfaction? Yes. Happy? Not so much. Maybe that’s the problem to start with—happy might be the wrong emotion to assign to the gaining of “materialistic” things… But happy aside, the article outlines studies that show people tend to have positive associations with spending money on “experiences.” So, the family vacation may rate higher on the happy scale than the new car. The studies also show that when an experience goes bad, like the scary family vacation, there may be a heightened sense of unhappiness around the expenditure. The conclusion? Really think before you spend. If you have a bad experience you’ll regret it more than if you bought something you find you don’t really need.
 
Here’s my thought: Experiences come in many forms. Eating an incredible piece of chocolate counts as an experience. Sharing it with a friend is even better. Purchasing a fab outfit for an event will only make the event live larger in your memory. Ok, I do rep chocolate brands and fashion designers (Verrier and Cynthia Steffe), but I do believe products can add something special to any experience. Will they make you happy? Good question. Which brings me back to one of my original thoughts, should things make you “happy?” Maybe satisfied is better.

WHAT HAS ICANHASCHEEZBURGER GOT TO DO WITH THIS BLOG: Read and find out!

It is a well-known fact in my office that I love little animals. I don’t own any because there is nothing scarier than the stereotype of a single female publicist with her small dog. OR, how about single female with cat or many cats? Plus, I travel too much to have a pet. BUT that does not mean that I don’t think they are God’s gift to us, primarily to make us smile. 

And that’s why I am IN LOVE with www.icanhascheezburger.com. Every day the site features ordinary little friends with extraordinary quotes. They are hilarious, like the one with a cat covered in oranges with a smirk on his furry face and the caption “not so funny now that you have scurvy…”
 
I found and started following icanhascheezburger on Twitter. When I told my head of the luxury department about it, she smiled and produced the “I Can Has Cheezburger A LOLcat Collecksun” book. She too is enamored with the site. It’s got this crazy cult following among a wide cross section of the population (my VP is one of the most sophisticated women I know). And in some weird way it can both make you laugh AND give you a sense of being on the inside track of an underground phenomenon.
 
So what has this got to do with my blog? A few things:
  1. I have never seen a blog (it is a blog, after all) that can produce hundreds of comments for one photo in such a short amount of time (I HAVE BLOG ENVY IN THE BEST POSSIBLE WAY)
  2. I feel compelled to share the LOL cat love with anyone who is following this blog
  3. Running your own business can be intense. Therefore, I wanted to let anyone out there know that if you need a break and a laugh here is a GREAT place to get it
  4. I just felt like writing about something that wasn’t connected with my own business
BUT REALLY, I was going to write about our luxury and mass division and how we have managed to run two distinct practices under one roof in perfect harmony and to the GREAT advantage of our clients (lux needs funding and mass needs cache—put them together and that’s a fab brand alliance!). BUT then, I took a peek at my favorite blog and got carried away. That’s just the way it happens sometimes!

"I told you being afraid is the worst sin there is."

We'll give you two guesses where that quote is from. (Hint to the left).  We knew you'd get it!  It's from Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless, of course, which came to mind after reading the perfectly pitched pieces by Eric Wilson and Guy Trebay for the New York Times, that sum up the tone of Paris Fashion Week.  In essence: 'who can enjoy the shows while the world is holding its collective breath until the November elections?' I suppose one could add, 'who can enjoy life when the markets, politics and world affairs are in such a state,'  but really, would that attitude contribute positively to the well being of anything we care about?  We've decided to take a break from discussing branding and trends for just for today and have taken Jean-Paul Belmondo's famous line to heart with a mini-round up of all of the fun, fabulous, and free activities to breathe life into our souls, in each of our favorite cities.  After all, a little enjoyment could be just what the doctor ordered.   Free, Fabulous, Fun ways to Come up for Air wherever you are:

New York: It's the last week of the season to tour the Hudson River by Kayak.  It's all free, courtesy of the NYC Downtown Boathouse and a great way to breath in the crisp, fall air.  

Paris: Breathe in delicious aromas with a free guided tour of either the legendary perfume house Fragonard or famed boulanger Poilane

Los Angeles: Have you ever taken in the beauty of Los Angeles from high above the action?  Our favorite two ways to do it are sundown at the Griffith Observatory or the Getty Museum (admission to the museum is also free.)

London: Catch the giggles at the quirky 'Portraits of the 1970s' exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery. Lighter than air hair fun for everyone!

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