About a month ago in one of our lovely Friday morning meetings the whole sales team got promotional earphones. We got the Platinum Noise Reducing Retractable Earphones, as a present from one of our favorite vendors! These have come in handy on my long, 6 hour drive to Pennsylvania.  They keep my hands on the wheel and eyes on the road! The retractable feature is great because I like to keep everything neat in my car, and absolutely hate when wires get tangled! These deffinetly make great presents, I recommend these to everyone!  

So over this past weekend, I was at the camelbeach water park in PA. In the winter time it's a ski resort, however in the summer months, it is transformed into a water park. I was initially thinking of going to Hurricane Harbor, but I wanted to go somewhere that was less packed on a sunday. This place was amazing and blew my expectations. There were barely any lines, and the rides were spectacular. The gift shop there sold various promotional products ranging from keychains, to water bottles. One thing I really enjoyed was taking the lift to the peak of the mountain. The view was simply gorgeous. There was a zip line ride that is offered, but I didn't have enough time for that. Hopefully I'll get the chance next time for I will be definitly revisiting there next season.

Here in New York, we have had extreme heat and weather conditions this summer. The beginning of July started out with extreme heat and humidity and by the end of the month, the rain and storms started coming in. The one thing that has been consistent throughout the month has been the fact that I have had to wear a sweatshirt at work every day. Heat, humidity, thunderstorms in July - OK, but sweatshirts?? I guess I can say I am lucky enough to work in a building where the cooling system works VERY well. So well, that I have to wear a promotional sweatshirt to work every day. Sometimes, it gets so cold in here I want to bring in my UGGS and declare it winter in July!

We've had pretty bad blackouts here in New York before. Remember the Northeast power outage that hit in the summer of 2003? But I don't think any has been as bad as what the people of India are facing today.

According to the New York Times, "About 600 million people lost power in India on Tuesday when the country’s northern and eastern electricity grids failed, crippling the country for a second consecutive day." Included in the blackout is the capital city of New Delhi.

Although officials are saying the power failure occurred with no warning, hopefully police and citizens were ready with promotional flashlights and other emergency preparedness items on hand.

What's most troubling is the reason for the power outage is yet to be determined. However, Reuters reports that Sushilkumar Shinde, India's Power Minister, "blamed the system collapse on some states drawing more than their share of electricity from the over-burdened grid."

Recently a customer came to me looking for new ideas for giveaways for incoming freshmen at their university. They had important contact information that they wanted to relay to them, that they would keep with them and would also be low cost. No, they could not use bottle opener keychains! Well anyone under 30 nowadays values one thing above all else, their cell phone. It is their portal to their friends, family...to their world. So if you can connect with their cell phone, you have them sold. That is why I showed her our Wesleyan Microfiber Cloth. It is a full color 6 x 6 cloth with a digital imprint so it is perfect for relaying copious amounts of information, it also keeps all of the students Droids and iPhones crisp and clear. In addition, she was able to add a vinyl pouch for the cloth that can double as their ID Card holder. All of that and it was still just $1 per piece!  It is a win/win for everyone!

This one looks legit. 

Apple loves keeping its new products a secret from adoring fans. After all, doing so helps build the kind of hype that has customers camping outside of its stores days before a product's release date.

But despite Apple's silence, today the Internet is abuzz with images and videos of what's allegedly the next generation iPhone. According to CNET, a new YouTube video shows a new Apple device that features "the long-rumored, taller 4-inch display, and a plate on the back that extends for part, but not all, of the device's backside." Check out the clip below:

The impressive design is already getting Apple fanatics excited. But if this is, in fact, the next iPhone, when will it be released? Cult of Mac, a news site dedicated to Apple, asserts that "September 21, 2012 is looking increasingly likely as the release date," as it's been reported by three different sites.

If Apple's next generation phone does come out in September, are you ready to leave behind your old iPhone and custom iPod covers? Or will you hold onto your current device until the very end?

While I enjoy my job, right now I would much rather be on my couch watching the Olympics! This past weekend we watched everything from table tennis to cycling, archery and soccer, swimming and my favorite...gymnastics. I enjoy cheering for the USA and watching amazing athletes compete. Most of all though, I love that the entire world comes together to celebrate the games. While I get invested in the events and some specific athletes, I love when the camera pans to the parents of these athletes. While some Moms can't stand to watch and others know the routines from start to finish, what they do have in common is pride and of course their team USA embroidered apparel. Seeing everyone in their red, white, and blue made me want to go out and buy a USA themed shirt. It is nice to show support towards our country and I could use a little more patriotism in my closet! So while you watch team USA, throw on your red/white/blue apparel to help show your support!

I have been racking up the miles on my car this week, tomorrow we are making another trip to NY.  This will be 3 times this week, luckly I have been fortunate to leave in the evening and beat most of the traffic.  I put my ipod on shuffle, cruise control on 70 and my travel cup filled with my favorite blend of coffee.  Life is pretty good.  I do have a couple of custom auto accessories that has been making life great.  My mini tire gauge/keychain has been quite helpful, everytime i fill up the tank with gas i make sure my tires are at optimum tire pressure for the best handling and gas milage.

Even though I haven't been in school in many...many years, for some reason, that late August time of year still gets me down a little bit.  The sun seems to go down a little sooner, the 90 degree days get fewer and fewer, Keith Hernandez stops mentioning, "the dog days of summer".  Until I begin to remember all the fun that begins in the fall!  There's football and baseball playoffs, Oktoberfest and pumpkin pie, sweatshirts and jeans, and so many back to school promotional products.  There are so many cool new imprintable items for many companies to hand out to old and new students alike.  These kids then bring these items home to their parents and boom now they know about your business.  I remember the trapper keepers and plain old marble notebooks, but the plethora of new items are fantastic.  Check them out here:  Ooops did I add that second one?!?!

Imagine the very iconic Bob Dylan gracing the stage with throngs of people anxiously awaiting his performance. The year is 1965. Bob Dylan is only 24 years old.

Now imagine Bob Dylan being booed off-stage.

It happened at the Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island. Bob Dylan's first electric set ever was met with great animosity. Some fans believed he "abandoned" folk music altogether while others believed the sound quality was less-than-stellar. What was known was that the fusion of folk and rock was born that day.

Forty-seven years later, I will be attending the same festival and see the stages greats like Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, Johnny Cash and George Wein among others. 

For months, I have been counting down to the Newport Folk Festival. It's my first time not only heading to the Folk Festival but actually staying in Rhode Island. (up until this point I merely used Rhode Island as a welcome mat to get to Massachusetts.) I'll be attending the festival on Saturday. The stellar line-up includes My Morning Jacket, Iron & Wine, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, First Aid Kit, City & Colour and even a group of young kids (aged 8-14) called the Sleepy Man Banjo Boys. 

Sadly, the weather in Newport is going to be far from ideal. I packed promotional umbrellas and custom imprinted rain jackets and ponchos. These jackets are great because they will keep the rain off while not overheating me from the already high temperatures predicted.