Life

Dress for Success Volunteer Appreciation

Posted on by Seniye Groff

Tuesday night Dress for Success held their volunteer appreciation event.  This is an organization I have volunteered at for 14 years.  The difference this group makes to women’s lives in outstanding (and sometimes truly unbelievable).  I have heard and witnessed countless lives changed by what we do as a united group.  Unfortunately I missed the event because of a lovely migraine but Dress for Success is one of my top priorities for where I spend my energy and time.  Consider volunteering or making a donation today!

 https://www.facebook.com/DFSOregon

http://www.dressforsuccessoregon.org/1/post/2012/06/volunteer-appreciation.html

Two Recent Books Reviews-“The Vertical Garden” & “Mediterranean Landscape Design”

Posted on by Seniye Groff

The Vertical Garden

The Vertical Garden by author, artist and botanist Patrick Blanc is a book beyond your typical garden book.  The book opens with nine chapters devoted to natural habitats such as waterfalls, cliffs and epiphytes, just to name a few.  Blanc has traveled the world and has captured some stunning photos of plants and their habitats.  The book then moves to the impact of plants on architecture.  Again, Blanc has countless photos detailing superficial, hazardous and destructive impacts.   For many of the pictures, you must look at them several times in order to believe it is real.  Blanc’s passion is obvious.  He invented the concept of the vertical garden in 1991 and believed he could make a building transparent or invisible with plants.  He offers step-by-step photographs detailing the incredible process.  The book then closes with almost 100 pages of photographs and details of many of his works.  This book is a testament to Blanc’s vision, dreams and artistry in a life-altering way.  You will be mesmerized from beginning to end with the intricate plans and the attention to detail that is not often seen.

Mediterranean Landscape Design

265 tantalizing, breathless photographs grace the pages of Mediterranean Landscape Design by Louisa Jones with photographs by Clive Nichols.  Jones asks “What is the role of human beings in nature?”  This book reviews mountains, stonework, earthwork, woodwork, clipped greenery, meadows and field geometry with that vision in mind.  She explores the inspiration of age-old materials, skills and sites to give the reader lots of ideas.  The garden tapestries chapter was especially beautiful and the seascapes and gardens of Venice romance the reader with the pictures and the words.  Mediterranean Landscape Design places the reader in the middle of the Mediterranean landscapes of Greece, Spain, France, Morocco and Italy.  After you have viewed this book, you will almost feel like you have just returned from a stunning, relaxing Mediterranean vacation.

Happy Cup

Posted on by Seniye Groff
Today was the day…I became Roaster for the Day at Happy Cup Roasting.  About a month ago, I found out I had won Happy Cup’s Roaster of the Day contest.  Apparently there were 300 entries but luck was on my side.  I won coffee for a year, a day with a roaster and a once in a lifetime experience!  I was able to bring three friends with me and so I chose friends that I knew were interested in coffee and that would “blend” well together.

We learned a lot about coffee in general, the roasting process and then blended beans for a one of a kind coffee roast.  The roasting part only took about 13 minutes but apparently can very quickly go awry.  Once we roasted and cooled the beans, we bagged them and then ground some of the coffee to try our creation.  I must say it was very smooth…no milk or sugar needed!!  If you can read the bag, you will see the customized name of my roast:  “Turkish Tornado” and the “Packed by Seniye” and the date on each bag!

The Age of Agility

Posted on by Seniye Groff

The May 2012 issue of “Talent Management” has a great article about Unilever’s flexible work model.  Unilever has made a deliberate decision to give its employees the ability to work whenever and wherever they like as long as the work gets done.  I am currently working onsite for a project and when I was hired, I was told I could work remotely as much as I wanted.  I was a bit skeptical but it has turned out to be true.  Although the workplace is extremely flexible, I still need to go in about three days a week.  I need to meet people, test procedures in the lab and ultimately feel connected to the project, the team and the processes. 

Unilever has resolved the disconnect between saying they are flexible with truly being flexible by investing heavily in technology and by eliminating the conventional idea of what an office is and is not.    They build their offices around activities rather than people.  They have three zones:

  1. Focus zones where people come and go and there is no ownership over the work stations.
  2. Connect zones which are spaces for virtual and face-to-face meetings.
  3. Refresh zones are locations stocked with food and gyms.

Unilever has also invested heavily in technology  so that people have great laptops, smart phones and virtual collaboration technology.  Finally, Unilever trained their people on the agile model.  No doubt, some people struggle with the agile model.  I imagine there must be a boss or two that is still “stuck” in the old way of believing face time is best.  For me, disconnecting from work, when my home office is constantly looming is my biggest challenge.  Nonetheless, I applaud Unilever for not just saying they support work/life balance but instead putting together the infrastructure, tools and training to make life/work balance a reality for its employees!

 

Love Learning, Love Change

Posted on by Seniye Groff

I love to learn new things.  I love change.  That point of discomfort is when I know I am forcing myself out of “comfort zone”.  I know that most people try to stay as far away as possible from that discomfort zone, but I guarantee that if you are willing to color outside the lines once in a while, you will be amazed at how many new things you can learn. 

Here are some ways that I try to erase the ordinary, both at work and in my personal life:

  • I try at least two new recipes a week.
  • I try to have lunch or coffee with someone I haven’t met at least once a month.
  • I have a list of things I want to learn how to make.  I have mastered cheese, yogurt and bread and my next thing is roasting my own coffee beans.  I will be able to check that item of my list next Saturday, by the way!
  • I read voraciously and read a varied reading list.
  • I volunteer a lot and with a variety of organizations with various missions.
  • I have eclectic interests which means I have an eclectic group of friends and acquaintances which means I am exposed to a wide variety of views, interests and knowledge.
  • I love to travel.  Nothing will get you out of your comfort zone faster than going somewhere that doesn’t speak English!
  • I attend all sorts of webinars on a variety of topics…they cost nothing but my time and I usually garner at least one new nugget of information, thought or idea.

Volunteering

Posted on by Seniye Groff

After a grueling day that started at 4 a.m. on Wednesday, I volunteered at Dress for Success in the evening.  My 10-year-old daughter asked if she could volunteer with me.  Carli has not accompanied me during my volunteer duties since she was a baby.  I would spread out a blanket in the corner and she would sleep or play–but that was MANY years ago.  Carli has always asked a lot of questions about what I do with the women while I volunteer.  I believe it is good to instill a volunteering mindset while she is young.  So, actually, I was thrilled that she wanted to join me!

I emailed the volunteer manager and she said it would be fine to bring my daughter.  We arrived at 6 p.m. and there were eight other volunteers.  We completed a myriad of tasks for an upcoming fundraising event.  Meanwhile between tasks, my daughter entertained and engaged the other volunteers.  Carli kept a smile on her face no matter what we asked her to do.  Ten year olds are challenging but Carli really made me proud that evening.  I certainly will bring her to other volunteering events, now that I know she really can be helpful and happy at the same time.

Contests

Posted on by Seniye Groff

If you are like me, you are pretty skeptical of contests (yet, I seem to enter them anyways).  The joy of entering a contest is the “dream factor” that results from hitting the “submit” button.  Even the smallest prize can bring happiness because the pervasive thought of “nothing ventured, nothing gained”, takes hold.

Back in February, I had some down time and  submitted an entry for a “Roaster for the Day” prize.  I love to learn how to make stuff and roasting coffee beans has been on my list of things to learn, now that I have mastered bread, yogurt, ice cream and cheese making.  But, as usual, because I move at a rapid pace, I hit enter and forgot about it.  That is until Monday afternoon when I received a call that said I had won.

Wow, I won?!  The last thing I won was in 1995 when my name was called at a manager meeting.  I won a leather jacket for the now-defunct company, Side1.  I returned home with my prize and one of my employees salivated over the jacket.  I ended up giving it to her–she wanted it so much.

But coffee roasting with a mission is right up my alley.  There were 300+ entries for this prize so I feel pretty special and grateful.  Especially since I get to bring three friends along.  I also get to pick and name my roast, because Happy Cup will make bags with my custom name.  My husband suggested Turkish Phenomena Roast or Turkish Tornado Morning Hit Roast…ah, he knows me too well.  I also expect a year of caffeinated nirvana given the prize comes with 52 bags of coffee beans.

If you are not familiar with Happy Cup Roasting, check them out.  They are focused on giving people with potential, opportunities.  I have been a 12 year volunteer at Dress for Success and love helping women gain self-sufficiency, so their mission really “speaks” to me.  So in the end, happiness and doing good can all be found in a cup of coffee!

I will keep you posted on my roasting adventure!