Life has been good to Alicia Keys over the past year, and now the singer is ready to give back.

On Monday, the Grammy Award-winning artist flew to Washington, D.C. to meet with members of an HIV program at United Medical Center. According to the AP, the women opened up to Keys, sharing "their experiences with the virus, including the fear and stigma associated with the disease."

Keys, who has met with women with HIV across the world, says it's time to connect conversations about the virus, both here and abroad. With the help of the Kaiser Family Foundation, Keys supports "Empowered," a campaign that aims to raise awareness about HIV, especially among women. "Empowered" also provides funding to community-based organizations with the same goal. 

Way to go, Alicia! We love that you're part of such an important awareness initiative.

P.S. I couldn't help but notice that the 'Empowered' logo would look great on a custom printed pen. Just sayin'!

For years now my dad and I have talked about getting motorcycles so we can cruise the back roads of Pennsylvania. For the past month he began getting serious about it and talked to several people on Long Island. Finally he made the big leap this past weekend.

On Saturday I tagged along and checked out one of my favorite bikes, the Honda Shadow. On Sunday we had the beautiful candy red bike delivered to our house. I was in charge of the paperwork and whipped my out my favorite promotional pen, the promotional eco-friendly gel pen to make it official!

My pops loaded it on the trailer and headed back off into the distance to enjoy his new toy!

At last week's ASI trade show, we all came back overwhelmed with new product knowledge, contacts, and promotional freebies. I do admit the best part about going to trade shows is the great new products we see and get. I came back with a personalized tote bag filled to the top with lip balm, promotional hand sanitizers, stress balls, promotional pens, promotional candy and so much more. Like most people, I am a weekling when it comes to the promotional food products they put out at the booths. Especially after walking around the show for hours, and once I get hungry, any booth that has food and candy, will get my attention! At last weeks show, after eating everything in sight, I have to rank this Chocolatier booth as my top choice. They had the best dark chocolate truffles I have ever had. After having a taste of their promotional chocolates, I felt like I was in Chocolate Heaven. Now, not only will this booth be embedded in my mind forever, they will surely by getting my business! 

     I don't know about you, but I am really enjoying this unseasonably warm March weather. It makes you want to go and see what the world has to offer. In fact, the weather could not have at a more perfect time, because this past weekend was St. Patrick's Day. This year, it was on a Saturday, so many people were in Manhattan to enjoy the parade and all the bars the city had to offer. I was also in the city that day, but for another reason. For my girlfriend's birthday, I had gotten her tickets to the Broadway play "Anything Goes", and the tickets just so happened to be for the performance on St. Patrick's Day.

     For those of you who don't know, "Anything Goes" is a Broadway revival and a three time Tony Award winning show. The story involves wild antics aboard a cruise ship bound from New York to London. Billy Crocker is a stowaway in love with an heiress named Hope Harcourt, who is engaged to Lord Evelyn Oakleigh. Nightclub singer Reno Sweeney, who is also a good friend of Billy's, and Public Enemy #13 Moonface Martin aid Billy in his quest to win Hope. The play is filled with plenty of dancing, choreography, and tons of humor.

     The show was actually better than I expected. It was funny, the choreography was spot on, and the singing was entertaining. I am not one for musicals, but I did enjoy this one a lot. Our seats were great, too. We were six rows from center stage, which only added to the great experience we had. The "icing on the cake" for the evening would be that sitting right in front of us was comedic legend Jerry Lewis. Unfortunately, he was not in much a mood to be dealing  with any fans. He came in right before the lights dimmed out, was escorted to and from his seat by staff of the theater, and left the theater from a special exit. What a shame too because I enjoy his work and would love to have gotten a picture with him, or even an autograph, instead of settling for the candid shot you see above. I even had one of my custom printed pens with the "Anything Goes" logo in my hand, but I just wasn't able to get the autograph. None-the-less, we had an amazing time in the city, which is just one of many we will have.

One of my best friends during work here at Motivators is my pen! I use my pen throughout the day and it is very important that it can write well and it must be blue ink. My favorite one that glides while writing at the gel pens. They are just so much easier to use than your ordinary click pens and your writing is much more legible (or so I think). Even though no one sees the notes I take or the scribbles I make, it makes me feel good to know that I use blue ink. Especially when I don't have to try to write and the pen just does everything for me. Makes me feel all that better. 

          Oh promotional adhesive pads, where would we be without you and your trusty side kick, the promotional pen? Both are a staple in anyone's home or office. They provide a valuable service, plus are an excellent promotional item.

          Post-It notes, you provide us the perfect opportunity to share important information. Your sticky background weathers many daily abuses, while holding on dearly to the document you were affixed to. You are the messenger of changes and alterations. You can deliver good news, or bad. You provide us with a chance to change and correct our ways. You are also there in a pinch, in a bind, and even when we need you on the fly. You provide a blank slate to brand a logo and provide contact information. You are a reminder for the forgetful, and a holder of important information. You and your trusty side kick, the promotional pen, go hand-in-hand...literally!

          However, what most people don't realize is that you are a canvas. You're a blank page waiting to be used. You are the beginning of something creative, and you can allow the imagination to run wild. You give the opportunity to people like my friends and co-workers, Kati and Nicole, to allow their creative juices to flow. Without you their work wouldn't be proudly displayed in my cubicle, or be seen below. Thank you ladies, it's greatly appreciated and very sweet.

          So Post-It notes and pens, you hold a special place in our hearts. You may be taken advantage of, and taken for granted. But you are never forgotten, and you will always be by our side.

This whole week has been a mess at my house. My father is off from work for the holidays and is trying to fix "things" in the house and driving my mother crazy! He finally settled for the bathroom. He went out and bought a new mirror and light fixture (I guess we were long overdue for new ones). I must say he did a pretty good job at picking out matching ones. Now, it was time for the dirty work. He removed the old mirror, and we were left with a big hole in the wall. He had to sheetrock the wall, plaster and paint. Of course he isn't doing all of this by himself. He needs an assitant to bring him everyhing he needs but doesn't have in front of him (my poor mom). My promotional giveaways that I have laying around from Motivators came in very handy! I had recently brought home a box of things that were taking up too much room at my desk which consisted of a promotional calculator, promotional tape measure, calendars, pens, and a bunch of catalogs. The promotional calculator and the promotional tape measure were my dads best friends for this project. He is at his final steps of the project. Just needs to center the mirror and install the fixture and we will have somewhat of a new bathroom. Thanks Dad! You did a great job (for once as mom would say).

The end of a year marks a time when people will begin to start filing for there returns. I try to start early, but always end up doing it last minute. I'm such a huge procrastinator. Crunching numbers is always time consuming. However my handy promotional calculator will hopefully make it easier. If you are a accountant, giving your clients a promotional click pen is a great idea to thank them for the business. As we wrap up the year, lets look forward to 2012.

Statistics showed that this cyber monday was the biggest one yet. Last year, the Monday after thanksgiving had an estimated $1 billion in online sales. This year, sales were up about 15% from last year. More and more people are taking advantage of online deals, rather than going to the typical department stores. Mobile Phones also contributed to the big increase as more users shopped with a smartphone.  Here at Motivators, we have a variety of holiday specials you can take advantage of. Whether you are looking for a Custom Printed Pen or Promotional Bag, we have other 50,000 products you can choose from.

How many times during the day do most people look for a pen?  It seems like an insignifigant item most of the time...Until you need one!  Either to scribble down a phone number or even write out a deposit slip.  Custom imprinted pens can be a great help to people in need of a writing utensil in a pinch.  They are also a great way to get your companies name on a promotional item and help people to jot down important information.  A few days ago we recieved a huge bag of my favorite custom imprinted pens and I should be well stocked for quite as while as you can see!!