May 8th and May 9th is the ASI Show in New York at the Javits Center! For those of you that do not know what ASI is, it stands for Advertising Specialty Institute, or as we call it promotional products heaven!

Our office split into two groups and took a bus to attend the show to see what new promotional products are in the market. Everybody has a great time walking the show and picking up all the free samples that are given out. My favorite giveaway at the shows is the little hot dogs!

When everyone came back to the office today with their goody bags, my favorite item was a bag that Adam picked up for himself (see below). I can't wait to attend the show tomorrow and pick up a sample for myself! 

This past weekend was a very tiring and sad one for me. It was my grandparents last few days in America and we had lots to do. We were invited for dinner by framily friends on Friday and Saturday night, which meant that we were not able to accept guests that wanted to say goodbye to my grandparents. Of course nothing like last minute, everyone decided to come on Sunday because their flight Monday 12:50 p.m.

Saturday morning we went out to breakfast all together. Most of the day was spent running last minute errands and packing. My mom is super crazy with sending all the kids something so she packed four huge bags for my grandparents to take back.

Yesterday I had requested to be off in the morning so I can go to the airport with my grandparents. When we got to the airport, we were greeted by Kobe Bryant and Leo Messi ...well not them actually but a cardboard image of them that advertised Turkish Airlines which read "Fly with the Best". Of course I had to take a picture of this awesome promotional product and show you all-- see below! Seriously though, I truly do believe Turkish Airlines is the best!

Who doesn't love free food? I am sure everyone grabs at free things; I know I do (and so does my co-worker Adam).

I don't really go food shopping, since I still live at home and my parents take care of all that stuff. But, when my parents do go food shopping, my favorite place to go with them is Costco!

Why you might ask? Because I love the food samples that they hand out.

Custom food products also make for great giveaways at tradeshows. What a fantastic way to be remembered! 

As you all know from my previous blogs, my grandparents came from Turkey to visit almost 3 months ago! (I know, time flies by when you are having fun) It seems like it was only yesterday I was trying to get their paperwork together.

Anyway, we have decided to go for round two of a tour of New York City. Our first round ended quite fast, because my grandmother got car sick. And the weather has been cold for us to go out all this time that they have been in the US. So this time around, my friend Amanda and her mom wanted to take my grandparents out and use their truck. (Sheila (Amanda's mom) thought that since it's a bigger car, the ride would not affect my grandma as much as it did last time. Believe it or not Sheila was right! We drove to the city- grandma sat in the front- got to the city around 2 pm and were there until 10 pm. Grandma was fine the whole time and she enjoyed herself a lot.

We went to the Statue of Liberty, Freedom Tower, South Street Seaport, China Town, Central Park, Empire State Building and Times Square. It was a very tiring day and thank goodness we had a car to get from point A to B with. But overall they had a great time. It is going to be very sad when they leave in less than 2 weeks! 

Ms. Ozzie Dikmen, our sales supervisor, is our own 'Dr. Oz' here at Motivators Promotional Products. (At least that's what we call her!) She is very knowledgeable with health, medicine and natural home remedies. All winter long she walked around the office with her own cough syrup. And it works!

A study of 3 million people revealed that less than 1% of participant got enough essential vitamins from diet alone. Because I am sick all the time, 'Dr. Oz' diagnosed me with a weak immune system. She even took me to the store to buy the vitamins that I must take.  

1) Multivitamins: Look for 100% of the daily value of the 12 essential vitamins and minerals - like vitamins B, C, E and Zinc

2) Fish Oil/Flax Seed / Omega 3 supplement: Less likely to have heart attacks, suffer stroke, or die from sudden cardiac arrest

3) B-Complex: Help boost energy, help with depression and even with sugar cravings

4) Calcium: A necessary supplement for strong healthy muscles, bones and teeth

It took a few weeks for my body to adjust to taking the vitamins. But overall I believe it will only do me good.

Today was a very important day for my fellow Turks! Turkish soccer team Galatasaray was playing against Real Madrid in the Champions League and everyone was hyped about winning, even me! (I am not a Galatasaray fan, but I will be rooting for them because we are Turkish)

Looking back in history, the only team Real Madrid lost against was Galatasaray in 2001 (3-2). We all hope to have relived this day in history. Ozzie- my Turkish co-worker and I since early this morning decided that we would turn the TV on in the break room to Fox sport and run into the room every once in a while to check the score. The game would start at 2:45 pm EST. I then remembered that today was my late day and I would not be taking my lunch break until 3pm! SCORE!

When I entered the break room at 3:00 pm, wearing my Turkish team Jersey, cap, and my #1 Foam Finger, Real Madrid had already scored a goal, and I started the game on a bad note. 20 minutes in, again another goal. I was having a heart attack screaming and punching the table. I had forgotten I had to be calm so I did not disturb people working. The first half was over but our positive thoughts were still with Galatasaray. They always do better the second half! I got to see 15 minutes into the second half and the score was 2-0 still. It was a very disappointing game to watch. 80 minutes into the game, and yet another goal makes the score 3-0. Well, we kind of lived the score from history in a different way! 

Just when I thought the winter was over and that flu season had passed, it started to snow again and the flu is back in my household.

Past two weeks we have been getting very light snow and rain almost every other day here in New York. I'm very impatiently waiting for the summer weather to get here. As if that wasn't enough, my little brother and grandma caught the flu. My grandma doesn't have it as bad as my little brother. My poor baby has had a fever for two days (in the high 100s), a cough so strong that he feels like he's about to cough out a lung and his nasal passages are all clogged.

The rest of us in the house are freaking out that we are going to catch it. We have tissues, sanitizers, and medicine everywhere. Everyone is constantly washing their hands and avoiding contact with the sickly ones. I cannot wait until the temperatures are at a constant 60+ degrees. 

You don't realize how much you rely on your headphones until you don't have them anymore!

I am an iPhone user and a very dependent one too! I am on it for anything and everything. I also love the headphones that come with it. We always have a few different pairs of headphones at my house. I even exchanged my old ones with my friend for his brand new iPhone 5 headphones that feature a new design. But I cannot find any of them to use. Never realized how much I use them!

When speaking to someone, having headphones is much easier than holding the phone in your hand. I am always listening to music or watching something (mostly my Turkish soap operas on my lunch break) and I need headphone so I do not bother others. Especially driving, and promoting hands-free phone use, having the speaker on is so hard to hear. I definitely needed to get myself a new pair of headphones.

I took some time out on my lunch break today and did a bit of research. I wanted new headphones that were good quality and that would not hurt my ears. Once I saw the Leeds nluetooth stereo headset, I knew I needed them. I placed my order and received them yesterday. I absolutely love them! 

Yesterday was a rainy morning here in New York. I woke up at my regular time of 7:00 a.m., did my regular routine, and left my house just a little bit earlier than normal just so I would make it to work on time.

I had my radio on to z100 (Elvis Duran and the Morning Show) to keep me company on my one hour commute to work. Little did I know it was going to turn into a two hour commute.

In a matter of seconds, I found myself stopped in the back of a Buick sedan. I was only going about 20-30 miles per hour and it was not anything serious, but this was officially my first car accident.

I waited a few minutes and the lady I hit did not seem to react. So I put my hazards on and got out of my car to see if she was OK. She rolled down her window and gestured for me to wait. She was on the phone with the police. She told me that we should move to the side and that the police were on their way. We pulled over to the curb and checked on our cars.

My license plate frame was broken and there was a minor scratch on her back bumper. When the police came over to ask me what happened, I really had no idea. I feel like I blanked out for those seconds it took to do what I had done. Thank God it was something very minor and everyone was OK. 

I am overly excited that this Sunday, March 10, 2013 is daylight savings time. I long for the warmer weather, the flip flops and that it will actually be light out still when I get out of work at 5:30 p.m. I will have time to go running after work, hang out with friends, or run some errands.

I find it annoying that people complain about losing an hour of sleep. C'mon people, get to bed an hour earlier than normal and you will be just fine! During the winter, I get all lazy and down, and do not want to do anything after work. It's so depressing. The weather these last two weeks have been going great -- in the 40s and 50s. Yesterday was a beautiful spring day in the high 50s. Did not even need a jacket to go outside for lunch.

And then, I woke up this morning to an angry skyline. Just when I thought the sun was here permanently for a while, the rain came. Yes, we are being hit with another storm this week. Good-bye sun, warm weather, my dreams. I sure am not looking forward to shoveling again and having to use my snow brush every morning just when I thought it was over.