CRAVE CRUSH the urban girl's blog to all that you CRAVE

Give Back to Our Community of Women: Volunteer Nationally or Locally

November 23, 2009 by Gina | Comments (3)

The holiday season is right around the corner. What better time of the year than now to show the community of women in our world that you care. There are several organizations, global, national, local, that help women. Volunteering this holiday season will leave you with a warm feeling in your heart and the hearts of those you help. Below is a list of national organizations that you can donate your time to and help those in need.

The National Breast Cancer Foundation’s mission is to save lives by increasing awareness of breast cancer through education and by providing mammograms for those in need. You can help by giving individual breast cancer donations, corporate sponsorships, fundraising for breast cancer, or volunteering for breast cancer. Every effort counts! To become a volunteer for The National Breast Cancer Foundation you can go to their website and fill out a form and they will contact you with volunteer activities in your area. You can also go right online and make a donation. Every little bit helps. (nationalbreastcancer.org)

Global Giving Foundation (globalgiving.com) is a organization and great online tool to use where you can find a cause to volunteer or donate to. You can find a cause or country to support then make donation and then receive updates on how your donation has effected the lives of others. It’s as easy as going to their website, clicking on the Find A Project button, choose a country or a theme (for example: women and girls). From there the site will give you different causes you can donate to. One example is “A Sanctuary for Empowering Refugee Girls” in Kenya. The Children’s Empowerment Project is a safe space where adolescent girls regain their physical and mental health, create a network of peer support and achieve skills which lead to self-sufficiency. This one cause lists denominations which you can donate and what that amount of money will give these girls, such as

$50 -Provides weekly bus fare for 5 girls to attend job-training classes for 3 months

$75 - Provides 3 girls with school supplies for one year, including books, notebooks, handouts and pens

$100 - Pays for one girl’s medical care assistance for one year

And so on. Global Giving allows you to decide what cause you are passionate about and want to help.

Another National Organization you could volunteer with is RAINN: Rape Abuse and Incest National Network. RAINN’s Mission: RAINN is the nation’s largest anti-sexual assault organization.  RAINN operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1.800.656.HOPE and the National Sexual Assault Online Hotline at rainn.org, and publicizes the hotline’s free, confidential services; educates the public about sexual assault; and leads national efforts to prevent sexual assault, improve services to victims and ensure that rapists are brought to justice. There are many ways you can volunteer for RAINN such as staff a hotline, volunteer at your local rape crisis center, raise money to support programs, and raise awareness through public education efforts like RAINN Day. You can find out more information about these specific volunteer activities on RAINN’s website. One particular event that we found a great way to volunteer is a RAINN Day. RAINN Day is RAINN’s annual campaign to stop sexual assault on college campuses. You can register online to be an organization on your campus for a RAINN Day event. The RAINN website also offers materials you can use for your event and to pass out on campus. This is a great way to educate your college campus or community on how to stay safe. (www.rainn.org)

Another organization we’ve all heard of is Big Brother Big Sister. What a rewarding volunteer project to be a part of. Becoming a Big Sister is as easy as showing your little sister how to cook, play a game together or just spend quality sisterly time together. The impact is huge on children that need your friendship and guidance. To become a Big Sister you can go onto Big Brother Big Sister’s website and fill out an application form. A representative will then contact you to complete the process. It’s so easy, why not become a Big Sister and make the difference in a young girl’s life today. (www.bbbs.org)

There are many organizations you can find on the web, you just have to take the time to search. There are some websites dedicated to helping you find volunteer activities in your local community. One is 1-800-volunteer.org , where you can type in your city and see what opportunities are out there. Another site to search is idealist.org, where you can find volunteer opportunities near you. You can volunteer any time you want and trust me it can be so rewarding to know who or how many people you’ve helped. So have a Happy Thanksgiving and good luck giving Thanks to your community!

Holiday Recipes We CRAVE part 1of 3

November 22, 2009 by Nicole S. | Comments (0)

Guests are coming and you are not sure what to bake? Look no further we found the most delicious recipes that will whip your kitchen and your guests into a frenzy.

Apple Cranberry Galette from Patisserie Natalie
These cakes are a complimentary pair of sweet and tart flavors. Creator and high-school aged baking extraordinaire Natalie even made cinnamon flavored ice cream to go with them (so that you can die happy- yum!!).

Dough Ingredients:	Filling Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour	4 large granny smith apples
2 tablespoons sugar	2/3 cup fresh cranberries
3/4 teaspoon salt	5 tablespoons unsalted butter
12 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) chilled unsaltedbutter + 2 tablespoons	2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons (or more) ice water	1/2 cup sugar
1 egg	1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 tablespoon heavy cream	1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
sanding sugar	1/4 teaspoon ginger

Procedure:
1. Mix flour, sugar, and salt in food processor.
2. Add 12 tbs. of butter; pulse until coarse meal forms. Add 2 tbs. ice water; pulse until moist clumps form, adding more water by teaspoonfuls if dry. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk and wrap in plastic. Chill 2 hours.
3. While chilling the dough, prepare the filling (procedure below).
4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Roll out dough on a floured work surface 1/2″ thick. Cut into 8″ diameter circles and place on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.
5. Place about 1/3 of a cup of the filling in the center of the circle and fold up edges of the dough in one direction. Place a 1/2 tbs of butter on the filling.
6. Beat the egg in a small bowl and add cream. Using a pastry brush, paint the sides of the galette with an eggwash and sprinkle with sanding sugar. Place on the parchment-lined sheet pan and bake for 15 minutes.

Filling Procedure:
1. Peel and cut apples into very thin slices, about 1/4″ thick, then set aside.
2. In a large saucepan, turn on medium heat and melt butter. While the butter is melting, combine lemon juice, sugar, and spices in a small bowl. Pour into the saucepan.
3. Cook the cranberries in the pan first, without the apples. Wait until they start to make “popping” sounds, then remove from the pan, leaving the juice in the pan.
4. Cook apples just until they are easily sliced with a little pressure from a wooden spoon. Remove from heat and toss the cranberries in. Stir the fruits in with the sauce until everything is nice and covered.

For more on this recipe: www.cakespy.com
For more from Patisserie Natalie: patisserienatalie.blogspot.com

Pumpkin Roulade with Ginger Buttercream from Ina Garten
We cannot get enough of pumpkin-flavored everything this season! Give us cakes, breads, cookies, coffees over peppermint any day. It is the quintessential holiday flavor. Sophisticated and appealing, this pumpkin roll cake with ginger frosting is a definite way to please your guests.

Cake Ingredients:		Filling Ingredients:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour		12 ounces Italian mascarpone cheese
1/2 teaspoon baking powder		1 1/4 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda		2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon		1/4 cup minced dried crystallized ginger (not in syrup)
1 teaspoon ground ginger		Pinch kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup canned pumpkin (not pie filling)
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar, plus extra for dusting

Procedure:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 13×18x1 inch sheet pan and line with parchment paper.
2. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt in small bowl and stir.
3. Place eggs and granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on medium-high for 3 mins. Turn mixer on low and add pumpkin, then slowly add flour mixture.
4. Pour into pan and spread evenly, bake for 10-12 mins.
5. While cake is baking, sift the ¼ cup confectioner’s sugar evenly onto a thin cotton towel. When cake is done, roll the warm cake and towel together starting at the short end of the cake.
6. Meanwhile, make the filling while cake cools. In an electric mixer beat the mascarpone, confectioner’s sugar and cream for about 1 min. Stir in crystallized ginger and salt.
7. Unroll cake with towel underneath, spread cake evenly with the filling. Reroll cake in a spiral then dust with confectioner’s sugar.

For more on this recipe: www.foodnetwork.com

A+ Accommodations: AirBnB.com

November 16, 2009 by Jessica | Comments (0)

Finding killer airfares to exotic locales is easy, but securing last minute accommodations can be totally stressful.  Thankfully, AirBnB exists.  From treehouses in Paris, to luxe LA penthouses and Italian villas, this site offers it all at shockingly low prices.

Airbnb.com is the “Ebay for space.”  This amazing online marketplace allows anyone from private residents to commercial properties to rent out their extra space. The reputation-based site allows for user reviews, verification, and online transactions, for which Airbnb takes a commission. As of July, 2009, the San Francisco-based company had listings in over 1070 cities in 76 countries.

Grab your girls and book your fall fiesta now!

Have you ever used this site?  Please share experiences here.

Ignite Your Sales – Tips and Tricks from Fiona Walsh

November 15, 2009 by Inna | Comments (0)

At Seattle’s  latest  CRAVE chat event we learned what it takes to be a top notch sales person. Fiona Walsh revealed tips on how to prospect, qualify, and close deals resulting in more time, money and energy to focus on other areas of business. Fiona (@fionawalsh) is founder of FM Walsh and Associates Inc, and one of North Americas leading speakers on women in business. Her straight forward approach helped us find opportunity and confidence while facing this tough economy.

Although all of us don’t enjoy the sales accept of business, we all know it is a crucial to success. By avoiding some critical mistakes, taking initiative, and tapping into our natural tendencies as women we can limit the time and stress of the sales process while increasing our revenue.

Be prepared:

Keep in mind the three things you need to build successful business:

VISIBILITY, CREDIBILITY, PROFITABILITY

As women we have a natural advantage when it comes to doing sales. According to Harvard Business Review the number one trait that drives successful people is not passion, knowledge of product, or persistence, it’s EMPATHY. When you are focused on identifying the needs of a client and providing a solution, instead of just a product, people will trust you and give you their business.

You must be very clear about what you’re selling before you prospect. You must be able to answer the following questions very specifically:

1.What do you do? (Not just your job description)
2.Why does it matter?
3.Who cares? (Who’s your niche market/ customer profile) – to save more time it’s good to let your network know this information so they can pre-qualify references for you

You meet someone that seems interested in your product, you exchange cards, you get excited an extra bounce in your step, and then you wait and wait and wait. The most important skill besides closing is QUALIFYING. It is crucial that we do this because otherwise we waste our time and energy on people that might not even fit our target market. Qualify people from the get go with these three simple questions:

1.Do they have a budget?

• You should never just give stuff away unless there’s a strategic benefit in it for you.
• Exp: “how much have are you budgeting for health/fitness on a monthly basis?”

2. Do they have a reasonable timeline? This allows you to prioritize.
3. Do they have the ability to make the decision to buy?

• Exp: ask “are you able to make the purchase decision or is there someone else I should speak with?”
• If presenting to couples, make sure they are both there!

Making the call:

• If making a sales call scares you, get over it! Remember that you are gutsy, smart, and passionate and that you have a natural tendency to be a great sales person simply because you care.
• Everything in sales is scripted! Sit down script out everything if you have to, memorize it and then say if with confidence!
• Confidence is SEXY!
• Remember that making one or two calls is NOT ENOUGH! Expect that you need to be making 7-8 touches minimum, around 12 at the CEO level. This does not mean calling everyday to ask for the sale, find ways to “romance” your prospect. Email them an article that you think they’d find interesting, or a pr opportunity they could take advantage of. Make them aware of what you do.
• When you get their answering machine make it memorable by always adding value! It needs to be results driven, personalized, compelling, and include a call to action. Tip: script out a message before you make the call just in case.
• One of the biggest mistakes people make in sales is highlighting just the features or attributes of a product/service, and not the benefits. People ask themselves one question when they’re making a purchase decision “what’s in it for me?” You must paint a picture of what your product/service will do for them, how it will make them feel. BENEFITS are what sell.

Dealing with objection:

• Don’t be afraid of objection it means they’re interested and just need more information.
• Script out answers to potential objections, and then document them if they worked well. This can be used as a great training tool later on!
• Price is really not the objection 80% of the time. You might have to dig deeper to find out what they are really concerned about so don’t start slashing your prices right off the bat.
• Exp: “If we take price off the table are you happy with the product we have for you?”
• Remember, unless you’re a non-profit don’t just give stuff away, if you must negotiate price down take some stuff off the table.

Closing:

• You do a great job prospecting, qualifying, finding out their needs, providing solutions, and painting a picture in their minds that Picasso would be proud of, but you’re still not getting the sale what the heck?!
• Don’t assume people will stand up after your presentation and hand you a check. You have to ASK for their business.
• Come up with some catchphrases and see what works best.
• Exp: “When do you want to get started?”
• “When would you like this to be shipped to your house?”
• “When would you like your first session?”
• These days people expect to pay for products and service so don’t sell yourself short by being shy. PEOPLE EXPECT TO BE CLOSED. The worst they can say is no, but thankfully your sales funnel is running in full force so you can just move on to the next prospect.

You now have the necessary tools and knowledge to go out there and close the deal. Remember that you are gutsy, caring, and smart GOOD LUCK!

Beyond the Bottle: Hostess Gifts

November 9, 2009 by Jessica | Comments (0)

You don’t have to break the bank on an expensive bottle of wine to show appreciation for your hostess.  All you need is a little creativity to come up with a fab gift. Here are just a few ideas to get the juices flowing:

1. Veggie bouquet made up of delicious garden delights. Pick beautiful fresh herbs, greens and veggies from your garden and place them in an old glass pickle or salsa jar.  Jars make a charming vase for your bouquet and are an environmentally sound way to recycle.

2. Custom mani-pedi set.  Put together a kit containing of all your favorite polishes of the moment.  Include manicure tools like tweezers, a large nail clipper, a small nail clipper, small scissors, a folding nail file, a nail cleaner, 2 eva foam white toe separators and an emory board nail file/buffer.

3. Infused Vodka.  (Recipe via about.com) Ingredients: 750ml bottle of premium vodka, 1 sprig of rosemary, 2 sprigs of lavender and infusion jar with tight sealing lid.  Preparation:  Rinse the herbs and place them a clean mason jar or similar jar with a tight sealing lid.  Pour the vodka over the herbs and shake a few times.  Seal the lid tight and store the jar in a cool, dark place for 3-5 days.  Test the flavor of the infusion everyday, beginning on the second day. Once the lavender and rosemary flavor is to taste, strain the herbs from the vodka using a fine strainer or coffee filter.  Wash the jar and return the flavored vodka to it.  Store as you do other vodka.

What is the best hostess gift you have ever received?

Girl on Top – Book Tour Hits Your Area!

November 3, 2009 by Lilla | Comments (0)

In Girl on Top, career expert Nicole Williams takes 20 tried-and-true dating rules every CRAVE girl knows (and have probably used) such as “Play Hard to Get” and “Don’t Give Away the Milk for Free”—and shows you how to put them to use when the object of your affection is your job. With her ingenious approach—taking the tactics used to land a man and applying them to your career—you’ll be able to handle any work situation and come out on top. Finally, the advice no one else has been willing to tell you, right at your fingertips!

About the Author:
Nicole Williams, the original Girl on Top, is your tell it-like-it-is big sister who happens to be an expert in all things career. As a best selling author and founder of WORKS by Nicole Williams, she has re-defined the world of work—making it glamorous, relevant, and get this—fun!—to modern women who refuse to settle for a less-than-thrilling career. Get more of her advice at nicolewilliams.com.

Upcoming Tour Dates:

11/04 Santa Clara – 2855 Steven’s Creek Boulevard, Santa Clara
11/06 Seattle – 315 S. Center, Seattle
11/09 Vancouver – 788 Robson St., Vancouver
11/11 Minneapolis – 60 West Broadway, Bloomington
11/13 Chicago – 5 Woodfield Mall, Schaumburg
11/17 Boston – 1245 Worcester Road, Natick
11/18 Boston – 250 Granite St., Braintree
11/20 Cherry Hill – 502 Cherry Hill Mall, Cherry Hill
11/23 Washington DC – 1100 South Hayes St., Arlington
11/25 Toronto

DIY Barware

November 2, 2009 by Jessica | Comments (0)

Hand-painted wine and cocktail glasses make excellent gifts and are super fun to make.  Invite your girls over for a night of creative camaraderie and follow the simple instructions below.

Step 1 Purchase inexpensive clear wine, martini or highball glasses, a variety of paint brushes, and paint designed for decorating glass. Most craft stores carry special paint that can be set by heating painted glass in the oven.  Find stencils, and and cut out clip art imagery you would like to apply to the glasses.

Step 2 Wash glasses thoroughly and stick stencils or clip art to the inside of the glass you are decorating with clear tape.

Step 3 Apply paint in a free form manner or follow the lines of the clip art you taped to the glass.

Step 4 Remove clip art and heat according to paint instructions.

Step 5 Let cool in oven completely before use. Wash by hand and they are ready to go!

pictures from www.girlygirlgifts.com