And where in the world am I going? I don’t want to say just yet, so here’s a hint:

A mural painted by Jose Clemente Orozco, "Hombre de Fuego"

Share your guess by adding a comment, and be sure to check back at some point next week to find out if you were correct! Until then…nos vemos.

(photo credit: angelferd via photopin cc)

Set your sights on the prize, but don’t aim too high. Expectations that are set too high can be counterproductive.

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(photo credit: James Jordan via photopin cc)

That’s what automatically comes to mind when I think of Illinois, my home state.  Not Chicago, but farmland. I grew up in Southern Illinois in a suburb of St. Louis, so the outskirts of my hometown are full of flat corn and soybean fields. It’s what I was used to, and what I knew.

This last weekend I had the chance to visit Bloomington, Ill., where my good friend Marion recently moved to begin her new job. She suggested that we visit Starved Rock State Park (with which I was not familiar) on Saturday morning. Starved Rock is located just under two hours southwest of Chicago in Utica, Ill., and I believe it’s one of Illinois’ hidden gems — a natural treasure.

Walking along one of the many trails.

Situated along the south bank of the Illinois River, Starved Rock is home to more than 13 miles of hiking trails and 18 deep canyons, some of which feature waterfalls. With nearly 2.2 million people who visited the park in 2011, it’s a popular destination for those who enjoy camping, bird watching, fishing, boating and more.

A view from the trail running alongside a part of a canyon.

According to Starved Rock’s website, the 18 canyons were formed by glacial meltwater and steam erosion. The rock formations are made of St. Peter sandstone, which was laid down in a large, shallow inland sea more than 425 million years ago. The sandstone was later brought to the surface, presenting what we see at Starved Rock today.

Marion and me above Aurora Canyon.

Marion and I decided to take the hike to St. Louis Canyon, which turned out to be an easy trail measuring one and a half miles from the Visitor’s Center. En route to St. Louis Canyon, we passed by Kickapoo, Sac and Aurora Canyons, each offering beautiful sights and a serene atmosphere.

Upon arrival to the icefall at St. Louis Canyon (it was too warm for it to be fully frozen).

As we continued hiking, the trail delved deeper and deeper into the large rock formation. Before we knew it, we had finally arrived at St. Louis Canyon. And it’s safe to say that I didn’t feel like I was in Illinois anymore — I was completely taken aback by the view. Of all the canyons, St. Louis, LaSalle and French Canyons offer the most scenic waterfalls at Starved Rock. And during the winter, these falls turn into stunning icefalls!

Marion and me underneath the icefall at St. Louis Canyon

Overall, we had a great time at Starved Rock, and we only saw four of the 18 canyons — you could take a full day to explore the park. Starved Rock is a great experience that I’d suggest to anyone who happens to be visiting northern Illinois (admission is free, too!). Also note that the park can be overcrowded with visitors if you go during the high season. Because we took our trip in February, the park was relatively clear of large groups of people, which was nice. If you’d like to see more pictures from our visit, check out my album on Google+ : A Morning Hike Through Illinois Canyons.

Career ladders don’t exist anymore. Here’s a better way to think about advancing in your career.

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Who claims their jobs are more meaningful — men or women? Women.

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One of the sweetest infographics I’ve ever seen — a proposal via social media.

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*photo credit: Sprengben [why not get a friend] via photopin cc

ifttt stands for “if this, then that.” I first heard about ifttt through a post on Sarah Evans’ Faves blog, and I’m already enjoying the benefits. Based on conditional logic, ifttt helps its users automate tasks that involve online and mobile services such as email, Dropbox, Twitter, Instagram and more. Paired together, the trigger (online or mobile service) and the resulting action create a recipe, which performs a task.

Here are seven helpful ifttt recipes that the New York Times’ personal technology blog Gadgetwise mentioned in a September post:

1. Hate getting caught in a downpour? This handy recipe will send you a text message if the weather forecast calls for rain in your area.
2. Want to hang onto your Facebook photos? This recipe will shuttle any pictures that you are tagged in on the social network to a special folder in Dropbox.
3. Twitter scraps its archives after just a few days. This recipe will archive all of your old tweets in Evernote for later review.
4. Having difficulty waking up in the morning? Why not automate a wake-up call for every morning at the same time? For a different kind of wake-up call, you can also set a reminder to pay your rent on the first of each month.
5. This recipe will save all links starred as “favorite” on Twitter to Instapaper for reading at a later, more convenient time. Similarly, this recipe will push anything saved in Google Reader over to Instapaper.
6. Ever wish you could record notes to yourself that are transcribed and sent to your email account? Now you can.
7. Stay on top of movies with this recipe, which will automatically populate your Google Calendar with a current schedule of film releases.

Are you using ifttt? What are some of the great recipes you’ve concocted?

So let’s cut to the chase. It makes me incredibly sad to hear people say, “I only chose to go into my field for the money.” Or, “I’m not really happy with my job, but I make good money.”

As a recent graduate trying to navigate the waters as a young adult, I thoroughly understand how intimidating it is to lose your job or financial security. This economy is tough, and that’s why Americans are hesitant to quit their jobs, regardless of how unhappy they may be.

With that said, let’s be clear.

By making the statement above, I am in no way attempting to negate the importance of making substantial money to support yourself and your family. I understand how important that is. I am, instead, attempting to call out the simple reason behind many Americans’ career decisions: money, and money alone.

While making a commencement speech in 2009, actor and director Edward James Olmos said:

Chase your passion, not your pension. Be inspired to learn as much as you can, to find a cause that benefits humankind — and you’ll be sought after for your quality of service and dedication to excellence. This passion will make you oblivious of quitting time and to the length of your workday. You’ll awake every morning with the passion of pursuit, but not the pursuit of money.

I live by this. After all, what’s a career without passion? Without passion, what do you look forward to each day? How do you find inspiration and motivation that actually lasts, carrying you through even the toughest spots in your career?

Yes, money should be a factor in each of your career decisions. But if passion is missing from the equation, I don’t believe you’ll ever reach your full career potential — no matter how much money you make. Umair Haque said it best in his Harvard Business Review blog post: “It’s one thing to work on stuff that seems sexy because it’s socially cool and financially rewarding. But fulfillment doesn’t come much from money or cool-power — all the money in the world can’t buy you a searing sense of accomplishment.”

I hope you’ll take a second today to ponder all of this. If you can’t build your career completely around your passion, then maybe you can find a way to weave your passion into an aspect of your daily job, on a smaller scale. It will make a monumental difference.

Feel free to leave a comment to share what you think about working your passion into your career. I’m looking forward to reading your thoughts!

photo credit: Meyer Felix via photopin cc

Why do we have such few women leaders in our workforce?

It’s a problem that America and countries around the world have struggled with for years. And although statistics are becoming more favorable, they are still disappointing. According to a Forbes article from last February:

In 2009, women held 49% of the jobs in the U.S. and 50% of all managerial positions. A 2006 report from the U.S. Department of Labor noted that women outnumber men in such mid-level occupations…So while at the middle-management level, women have made substantial progress, at the top management level the statistics are still quite depressing. In 2010 only 2.4% of the U.S. Fortune 500 chief executives were female. In the FTSE 500 the statistics are even worse–only 1.8% of its companies are led by women.

With the Facebook IPO hitting the news all over the world, it’s hard not to take notice of a woman named Sheryl Sandberg. Sandberg is the COO of Facebook, and it’s incredible how successful she has become in the last several years. My friend Tatiana shared this video of Sandberg (above), who tackled the question, “Why do we have so few women leaders?” in a talk she gave in December 2010.

I’d encourage everyone (yes, even you guys) to watch it. This talk has major takeaways, all of which are important to keep in mind as you move upward through your company or industry ranks. The major points of Sheryl Sandberg’s talk are as follows:

1. Sit at the table. Believe in yourself and negotiate for yourself. Own your own success.
2. Make your partner a real partner.
3. Don’t leave before you leave. Stay in. Keep your foot on the gas pedal.

I hope you enjoy the video. Leave a comment to let me know what you thought!

*Another good read: Four Ways Women Stunt Their Careers Unintentionally (Harvard Business Review)

How can you make your life meaningful? Ask these three questions when it comes to your work.

This was my favorite read of the week. A global perspective can make all the difference in how you look at privilege.

Bilingualism is an intellectual advantage. So what happens when children assimilate and change their linguistic habits?

Forget networking. Be a connector instead.

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Is learning another language — other than English — worthwhile? The answer is obvious. YES.

How clever — Twitter is launching an official scrimmage for the Super Bowl advertisements.

Are you leaving a trail? What have you done lately?

Photo credit: Gluten Freely

According to Mashable, an estimated 60 percent of the 100 million people tuning in to the Super Bowl will be watching and interacting with a second screen. And it’s no secret that brands will be tapping into the buying power of those 60 million consumers through socially integrated advertisements.

The idea of social television isn’t new. After all, we’ve been tweeting and interacting online while watching popular sitcoms and televised events for some time now. Super Bowl XLVI just happens to be the first major sporting event that has brands jumping at second screen opportunities, which are more important now than ever.

Why are brands interested in second screen opportunities?

Nielsen’s May 2011 research shed light on how consumers are using tablets and mobile devices while watching television. The key findings include:

• Seventy percent of tablet owners and 68 percent of smartphone owners use their devices while watching television.
• Table owners said 30 percent of the time spent on their device was while watching television.
• Smartphone owners said 20 percent of the time spent on their device was while watching television.

Because of statistics like these, every major media investment in this year’s Super Bowl has a social TV component. Take a look at this video to see why the Coca-Cola Polar Bowl may be the most popular investment of them all.

What is the Coca Cola Polar Bowl Party?

As explained on the Coca-Cola Polar Bowl Party Facebook page:

The Polar Bears are throwing their first-ever Coca-Cola® Polar Bowl Party. They’ll be watching the game and chatting with friends from kick off until the clock runs out. RSVP now to hang out and chat with the Polar Bears during the game. Plus, with each RSVP Coca-Cola will donate $1 to World Wildlife Fund to help polar bears and their Arctic home.

Four to seven seconds after each play,  the Polar Bears will share a reaction based on the team they predict will win. What’s most important is that these reactions aren’t pre-recorded or pre-animated — they will happen live! Super Bowl viewers can tune in to the livestream and interact with the Polar Bears via social networks like Twitter and YouTube, laptops, iPads and some smartphones.

What are other ways you can watch the Super Bowl through a second screen?

• NBC Livestream of the Game: Watch the full game for free online and enjoy extra camera angles, as well as the ability to replay each commercial after it’s aired.
• Shazam It: For commercials that have a Shazam component, users will be able to tag the audio to unlock special offers and additional content.
• Check in on GetGlue: Pepsi is partnering with GetGlue to give users access to buy one, get one free coupons and exclusive video content, not to mention a special Super Bowl sticker.
• Companion Apps: The NFL’s official Super Bowl app, Chevrolet’s Game Time app and Heineken’s Star Player app will offer ways for users to access complementary game viewing options, enter to win prizes and interact with other fans.

So will you be watching the Super Bowl on a second screen? And here’s the most important question of all — which team is going to win? Answer the poll and share your thoughts by leaving a comment!

photo credit: Luisus Rasilvi via photopin cc

Waiters pushed trolleys through a bustling dining room, ferrying buns as well as items less recognizable to the non-Chinese visitor, like steamed bean curd skin rolls, pan fried taro and turnip cakes, and sticky rice with chicken in a lotus leaf. Spirits were high and so was the noise level. This was the culinary experience of dim sum.

A Cantonese term meaning “to touch the heart,” dim sum involves small individual portions of food such as a variety of dumplings and steamed dishes, usually served in a small steamer basket or on a small plate.

The food selection was fantastic, and I enjoyed nearly everything I tried. Of all the dishes, my two favorites were the char siu bao and egg tart (below, from left to right).

Though the dim sum experience was completely new to me, the char siu bao was not. A steamed bun filled with barbecued pork, char siu bao very closely resembles the Philippine siopao (which I love to eat with my mom!). Just as I expected, it was delicious.

As for the egg tart, it wasn’t until after our lunch that I realized how popular it is around the world. Ranked 16th on CNN GO’s list of most delicious foods, the egg tart is a sweet and savory dessert with a flaky crust and custard filling. It was a perfect way to top off our lunch.

With that said, keep in mind that the great food isn’t the only reason I’d suggest that you go out for dim sum with friends. You should go for the new, cultural experience. Go to try something you’ve never tried before, to open your mind to other walks of life. It doesn’t matter whether you travel to Hong Kong or visit a restaurant in your own city for dim sum — what matters is that you’ve stepped out of your shell to become more culturally aware. I can guarantee you won’t regret it.

Have you ever had dim sum? If you have, what is your favorite dish and why? What’s your favorite part about the dim sum experience overall?

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Photo credits:

• Char Siu Bao — photo credit: The Unseasoned Wok via photopin cc
• Egg Custard Tart — roboppy via photopin cc