"In the end, we'll all become stories." -Margaret Atwood

I stumbled upon this quote while trying to find a healthy heavy appetizer on Pinterest for NYE. It inspired me enough to stop, pin it (of course), take a screen grab and interrupt my plans of watching the Blackhawks to write about it later in the evening.

That quote precisely describe my mentality over the last three years of my life. Prior to that, I had bought into the fact that I'd live in Kansas City, married, working at the same agency I'd been at for the majority of my career. But then, with my divorce, plans changed and suddenly there were no plans. I didn't like that at first. In fact, I was absolutely devastated that I had no idea what to do with my life.

But after I stopped wallowing and feeling sorry for myself, I turned my heartbreak into a new look on life. If I wasn't going to live happily ever after as I had originally planned, what was I going to do to leave my mark on this world, my industry, my friends and family, etc?

You might think by reading this that I immediately signed up for the peace corps and started volunteering at a local soup kitchen five times a week. Well not exactly, although that would have been a positive option.

But I took a look at myself and my life and started to shape my own story. It was unconscious at first, but slowly I became aware of what I was doing.

My friends and coworkers who stood by me in during my struggle, became my family. So for a year, I spent my focus on orchestrating every scenario to hang out with them more, happy hours, a softball league, family dinner night, trivia night, etc. I never missed a birthday, shower, wedding, etc. if I could help it. No matter how broke, exhausted or ridiculous it seemed. I wanted to show my support in return.

Then I got the opportunity to grow my career by moving to our brand-new Chicago office with the potential to get promoted and build our relationship with the clients and partners. It was a bit of a crazy ride and incredible challenge, but did indeed push me to be a better account person and . I got opportunities in Chicago that I never would have gotten career-wise in Kansas City. And I was still connected back to Kansas City, my home.

And to help shape my personal happiness (and frankly distract me from being lonely), I took advantage of every potential trip, event and experience. At first, it was hard for me to be without a husband or family. But then I came to realize that I should take advantage of this time where I had the freedom to do what I wanted and didn't have to consider the impact to anyone else. I no longer had an excuse about why I couldn't do something - other than I didn't want to - so if I did want to, I found a way to make it happen. And it was awesome. I got to go to new places and experience once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. And I brought my friends along for the ride (or sometimes they brought me along for it). In a nutshell, as Bud Light puts it so eloquently, I was #upforwhatever

The opportunity in Austin came at a perfect time in my career and my personal growth. I suddenly could envision myself going off on my own and doing something without a huge support system on the ground. This thought that months earlier terrified me, suddenly excited me. I felt exhilarated thinking about the opportunity to decorate my own place, make my own friends, go to a new agency and make my own life.

It dawned on me that this is an opportunity where I have complete control over this chapter of my life. And it feels extremely scary but also pretty cool. And a risk that most people probably won't take. But I don't want to be like most people.

I didn't want to be like most people when I choose to go to college at Mizzou, knowing only one other person and having very little knowledge of Missouri, while my peers all went to colleges in Illinois, Iowa or Michigan. But it worked out (and was the best decision of my life) as it changed my trajectory positively and gave me a ton of memories to build my story.

Ultimately, in the end, I want to have a unique and unexpected story. And one that involves a lot of people, places and new adventures.

I've Been There, Burnt That (Again)

Well, I’m back again for another attempt at the blog, spurred by my new adventure to Austin, TX. 

The first time around, I hadn’t quite found my voice or my purpose. I’ve over the past almost year, I realized that not every post has to be about crashing and burning, because while funny at times, wasn’t really what I was all about. 

And it got hard to fit everything into a small, narrow box of situations where I’ve been burnt or burned something.

Don’t get me wrong, the toast burning mishaps and the challenges were fun.And this revelation doesn’t mean my blog will be super-serious, because I’ve learned that you can’t take life to seriously.

But I’ve realized “I’ve Been There Burnt That” is representative of life in general and not just the lows. So my blog will be representative of that -my life, my career, my move to Austin, my relationships, etc.

Before I was writing for you – or rather what I thought you were interested in. Or were about you. But now I’ve decided to write for me. I know that sounds selfish, but I got to make this fun for me to keep at it. I’m in the midst of reading Big Magic, a book by Elizabeth Gilbert (the lady who wrote Eat, Pray, Love), a quirky narrative about how to live a creative life. She states that if writing is your thing, you should never write for other people, you should write for you. And you should not be afraid if people will like it. Because it doesn't matter. 

So that’s what I’m doing. Writing for me, and not being afraid. And I hope you like it.  ;P

And living my creative life will not be limited to writing. For me it’s about writing, art, music and a mind-set of living. And I intend to reignite that spark with my move to Austin, even if it means starting a few fires and getting burnt along the way.

I've Been Burnt...

So I know I have been MIA for awhile & before that been a bit more serious.

So for those who preferred my lighthearted stories & ridiculous predicaments, here's a good one for you.

Guys if you've ever wondered if you should shave the scruff on your face. The answer is yes. Always shave. Scruff is rough. And can do major damage to sensitive skin [like mine].

Seriously I went on a date last Saturday and my chin is STILL irritated a week later. At least it no longer looks like a 12 year old boy's face during puberty.

I consulted the internet for some home remedies the day after and the suggestions were... wait for it... I can't make this stuff up: 1) Ask your man to shave, 2) Deal with it & buy some hydrocortisone cream & lather up, 3) Stop making out with or dating the person.

Since it was only date #2, I'm going to go ahead and go with option #3. And not just because of the scruff.

But for all you single men out there on Tinder who are reading this blog [I'm guessing approx. -5 people] if you want a swipe right, you better be posting clean-shaven photos.

Danny's Finding KC | #GreatIdeas Series

Danny Schumann is probably one of the busiest people that I know. But somehow he manages to be a fantastic dad, a good friend, lead the social insights team at VML KC and put his hobbies into practice through FindingKansasCity.com And why? Because he wants to. 

He took over FindingKansasCity.com about a year ago from a former co-worker who had started the site to review and profile shops, restaurants, bars and other culturally relevant things in Kansas City. He took on the site because he had a great vision about where it could go - but also frankly to keep practicing the skills he had taught himself over the past few years. And his love for Kansas City and discovering all the great things about it helps :) 

How it began. 

In college, he had the opportunity to purchase Adobe Creative Suite and take a class to learn the basics for design.  

"[From my optional design class in college] I learned a base, but 90% of what I learned happened by practicing and looking up small tactics one step at a time." 

At his first job, he bought a book, How to Build a Website, to learn how to code [Ironic, isn't it?] And chapter by chapter, trial by trial was able to learn how to code. 

From there he just kept practicing. And then he got the opportunity to take on FindingKansasCity.com. 


FindingKansasCity.com

Danny says the site had a great base and following, but he had plans to make it bigger. During the Kansas City Royals playoff run, the nation was hungry for Kansas City news and everyone rallied around the city. 

In that timeframe, FindingKansasCity.com: 

• Was featured in a Huffpost article 
• Profiled and partnered with local retailers to promote KC gear and link back to the site
• And activated its social media presence on Facebook and re-invigorated activation on Twitter  

And in the past few months, Danny's managed to find the time to rebrand and re-work the look and feel of the site, resurface and create new content, increase the search traffic to the site and being tweeted by local media. 

What's ahead? 

"[What I've done with FindingKansasCity.com] is not the finish line, but it's my next set of challenges to see what I can do and force myself to keep practicing." 

FindingKansasCity.com has incredible opportunity with the growth and revitalization of the city. So I know that whether it be this project or another, Danny will be successful and make his friends and especially his son, proud.  

Two Years Ago Today

Screw everything else below. The real news is that yesterday, I actually had my shit together. Despite what happened 2 years ago. And it felt awesome to be in a really good place.

Two years ago today, my life changed forever when my husband walked out the door. And the ensuing months were (hopefully) the hardest time of my life. But thanks to some incredible people I was able to get through it and realize I'd been given a second chance.

I could have spent today sad, angry, lonely, etc. But I'm not. Instead I've decided to reflect on all the positive things I've learned from that experience.  

Firstly - 

Your hardest times often lead to the greatest moments of your life.
There were days when I felt powerless with my world crashing down all around me and I didn't know if I'd ever be happy again or would ever stop hurting. But I also became more "real" than I had ever been before. I let others in like never before. I let myself cry in front of people. I got so angry that I broke things. And I appreciated every bit of love and happiness I received. And I found myself having some incredible experiences with amazing people. And the greatest moment was finding the strength to start over, on my own, in Chicago.

And because I was forced to become "real", I learned to - 

Be brutally honest. 
In all sorts of relationships. That's the only way you can really get to know a person intimately and the only way a relationship will stand the test of time. And this is even harder, but you must be honest with yourself. Even if you don't want to know the truth.

Enjoy the moment. 
My marriage didn't end when he walked out the door. It ended long before that and it wasn't only because of him. I didn't appreciate what I had. I prioritized a lot of things over my marriage and only realized it when it was already too late. So I try to be conscious of appreciating the here and now.

And being more appreciative of the moment, I realized that moment is best if you are happy - 

Don't take life too seriously.  
I used to. I still do a lot (hence this post). But I've realized sometimes you need a little bit of dumb in life. I've learned to relax a bit, smile more, not take everything personally and that it's okay to pick-up and go to San Francisco next weekend, even if you can't really afford it.

You control your happiness. 
Life can be pretty shitty sometimes - people will do shitty things to you, you will find yourself in shitty situations. You can blame it on those people or those situations, or you can control how it affects you. If you find yourself unhappy, you have the power to decide how it's going to affect you and change the situation.

You have the power to change, but some things happen for a reason - 

You don't meet people by accident. 
If I hadn't met my ex, I wouldn't have moved to Kansas City. It wasn't a coincidence that a friend from college was the perfect person to move in next door around the time my world was falling apart. It wasn't by accident that I met some amazing friends back in college who became my strength during this time. It wasn't by chance that at my lowest point, I met someone who understood exactly what I was going through. It wasn't happenstance that I met some new people who turned into exactly what I needed at various points over the past two years.

Moving forward doesn't mean forgetting - 

It's okay to miss people you no longer want in your life. 
The hardest thing about my divorce was not only losing my husband, but also my best friend. We had a lot of great times together over nine years and made a ton of memories. So of course I missed him. And I'm starting to be able to remember without crying. And it's okay that I miss him or miss certain things, but that doesn't mean I want him back.

And finally - 

#YouNeverKnow
My friend coined this hashtag during a softball game several months ago (and no, she was not talking about whether or not I'd actually hit the ball). But she was right. You just never know what might happen in life. Sure there are some things you can control, but there are a lot you can't. I don't know what's in my future - and even though that's can be a bit scary - I'm okay with that right now. Because #youneverknow what will happen next.

Tea with Claudia | #GreatIdeas Series

"Always surround yourself with people smarter than yourself," is one of the best pieces of advice that I've heard [and taken]. 


And my friend, Claudia Zhang, is no exception. As long as I've known her - about 16 years now - she's been full of wisdom, advice and #greatideas. And she's always up for taking risks, "just going for it". Her dedication to her budding tea business, Michi Tea, is no exception to this rule.  

Claud moved to Germany [much to my dismay] with her husband a year and a half ago -  knowing virtually no German or people besides her husband and a few of his friends. This experience alone is worth writing about [Claud, someday you'll have to document your stories]. For some this could be incredibly daunting, but for Claudia it was an opportunity to experience something new. 

Over time, she noticed that Germans are "very particular" about their beverages, often drinking anything but "flat" water. In fact, on Sundays when other shops and supermarkets were closed, she noticed the beverage shops or "Getraenkemarkt" were open because it's so much ingrained in the culture. When she got pregnant, she started looking for non-alcoholic beverages and most of the options were sweet. And she realized what was missing - ready-to-drink teas, right out of the bottle, that tasted freshly brewed and were without a lot of added sugars. 

So she started thinking, what if I developed a product that could fill this gap? Claudia started experimenting with brewing and bottling at home, but soon realized that wasn't realistic to produce large quantities doing that. What's really great about this story, is that as Claudia finds a roadblock or a potential dead-end, she just tries a different route [or turns over a new leaf, if you will]. 

"The further I got into the project," she said. "The more I understand about all the bits and pieces that needed to be done. I think it's probably the case with any startup, you just have to start and then figure out the rest as you go along. It's impossible to plan for every little thing ahead of time because you just won't know what you will need." 

See I told you she was smart. 

So while she's not 100% up & running with Michi, she is finalizing her brand and business plan and next step is to do sales pitches to retailers and distributors. And sell the tea! 

I wish the best for one of my best friends in moving forward with Michi and all her other #greatideas [although her next one better involve coming back to the states...]

 #30before31

Dating while #30before31

One of my #30before31 challenges is to "date for real". I know that sounds ridiculous, but it's something I've had a hard time doing since my divorce. Part of me wants to not deal with dating at all, but the other part of me doesn't want to miss out on the experience of dating. Especially in Chicago. 

Well after a few months, I've discovered that my dating life and my cooking skills are unfortunately very similar. I keep crashing and burning with every new guy I meet. [And it's not totally because of my awkwardness]. 

I mean there was the potential #Tindernightmare with "Tinder Tom". On the second date he wanted me to come over to his condo - or rather his parent's condo - that he was living in at 11 o'clock at night. I mean if that doesn't scream "bad decision", I don't know what does. So needless to say, I didn't go on that second date.   

And then there was Chris, a pilot and huge Chicago Bear's fan. Who at 38, acted 23, and was obsessed with selfies. Like dude, if a guy does selfies more than the gal, there's a problem.  

And who could forget about Bobby, who just graduated from grad school, but I am pretty sure still lived in a dorm. Let's just say that didn't last too long.  

And of course, Nick, who dragged me around to every karaoke bar in the city so he could sing karaoke. He was fun, until he kept asking me, "why do you like?" Finally, I was like, "I don't." 

But I've also met some guys who have really been great - intelligent, driven, attractive, fun, etc. But the problem lies with me. I have a problem with commitment and making dating a priority. So there's that. Meanwhile, I'll continue keeping my options open and giving dating a chance. And maybe one day I'll be ready. Because #youneverknow

Jake - Candi - @DublynDoodle | #GreatIdeas Series

It's a snowy morning in Chicago and I'm laying in my bed, scrolling through my Instagram feed, contemplating burning some toast [well not really, but that's what usually happens]. And as usual, I came across my friends' @DublynDoodle Instagram feed, featuring Dublyn, their lively golden doodle. And I smile as I scroll through the multitude of comments about people who love Dublyn. 

Candi Chadwick & Jake Slobodnik are two fantastic and talented people that I had the pleasure of meeting a few years ago in KC through a mutual friend. They took me under their wing in a tough time in my life, and we became close. While getting to know them, I found out that Jake dabbled in photography (or so he said but he was actually super talented at it) and in September 2013, they adopted a golden doodle, Dublyn. 

Their story is a fantastic case of some people who have turned their passion into a bigger idea. 

The day they added Dublyn to their family, they took tons of photos and immediately started posting on Instagram. They said, they quickly realized they were going to drive their friends insane, or risk losing our friends altogether if they kept posting. 

So Candi came up with the idea to create an account, just for Dublyn. Jake says, "In December, Dublyn came home, and we posted our 'final' photo of Dublyn on our personal accounts, which read At the sake of sounding crazy, but more so you don't have to be inundated with pictures of our new dog, we have created a new account for Dublyn.  Check her out @dublyndoodle." 

Each day Candi & Jake would take pictures of Dublyn and post them with #goldendoodle and #dogsofinstagram. They quickly gained hundreds of followers and in 11 weeks over 1,000 followers who loved seeing their adorable dog. [Even as a non-dog person I got suckered in too]. 

They started adding watermarks to their photos and then were featured on @dogsofinstagram and they felt famous! so far, they've been featured on @natgeochannel, @petbox, @gramoftheday, @glamourpoland, @findingkc, and many more. They've been contacted about becoming a "product spokes-dog" by numerous companies.  Including @whistlelabs, which they recently teamed up with to represent, Whistle, a pet activity monitor, similar to a FitBit for humans. 

They've even won several contests and also entertained the idea of creating an ETSY account selling cards, photos, or calendars, but haven't committed quite yet.  

On October 15, 2014 at 5:45pm their account hit the 10,000 follower mark. And they are still amazed at the success of the account with (now) nearly 13,000 followers. They say their short-term goal is 25,000. Their ultimate goal is a feature by Instagram themselves, #weeklyfluff. 

To maintain the account regularly, it's a two-person gig, including taking the photos [and getting Dublyn to pose], adding the posts, responding to the comments, etc. When the account started, Jake did a lot of the photography but recently Candi has taking some photography classes and becoming adept at taking the photos herself as well. Making their possibilities endless. 

So what's next? 

Some of their favorite Instagram accounts have turned the fun pastime of pet photography into a full time job - through book deals with signing tours or abandoning their day to day jobs to become full-time pet photographers. For right now, they are happy just living our lives and sharing a very special piece of it with our friends, family, and over 12,000 strangers. 

But keep an eye out for a major addition to the account, coming Spring 2015. (Hint:  It might just be a miniature version of Dublyn). 

In the meantime be sure to check out Dublyn on Instagram @dublyndoodle

#30before31 I'm Burning My Credit Cards

Okay, not really. But as of January 18, 2015, I could actually burn them. 

For the past three years, I've carried debt due to circumstantial situations. For a while, I pushed off focusing on paying it off because it wasn't only my debt and seemed way to daunting to try to tackle myself. 

But it bothered me because I've always been a saver and very good with money. And I work hard for that money both my full-time job and through freelance, but two years ago (without going into much detail) my situation changed. 

Out of principal, I didn't feel like it was my responsibility to be the one paying it off. But after months of excuses and adding it to a #30before31 list, I made up my mind to just get rid of it if it was bothering me. Then the money that I would get back from my ex could go toward other things besides the debt. It would me having to say no and picking up some extra freelance jobs, but I knew it would be worth it. 

So I finally did. And now I can finally can start saving and paying off my other debts. And it feels so good. So maybe I will burn those cards. Or more likely I'll just stick to burning toast and using my debit card. 

#30before31 It's the Small Things

After an incredibly fun [and toasted] weekend in Kansas City, I'm back on the work couch in my apartment in Chicago and remembered that I was able to check off another #30before31 from my list this weekend. 

The idea is to buy a stranger's lunch or drink in order to brighten their day. On the flight to KC, I remembered I had 3 free drink tickets that were set to expire Jan. 31 (next week) so my friend, Kattie, and I naturally ordered a cocktail each to enjoy. 

I was left with one free drink ticket and didn't know if I'd be up for a cocktail on the flight home. I hate to see free drinks go to waste, so I gave it to the flight attendant to pay for the woman's drink diagonal from us. 

"Are you sure you don't want to keep it just in case?" my friend asked. And normally I probably would have and then I would have thrown it out or it would have expired. But this time I didn't. 

That tiny, tiny act of kindness took literally zero effort but the woman was beaming as she thanked me from across the aisle. 

Just goes to show that even the smallest things can make an impact if we just stop for a minute and think of others in our crazy, hectic lives and pay it forward. 

#SalvagedItSaturday

Good news is I managed to salvage the #FridayFail (torched butternut squash) into a tasty salad on Saturday. 

And all the other ingredients somehow cancelled out the burnt flavor. 

#SalvagedItSaturday
#Laterpost

#FridayFail

Well, shoot. 
#FridayFail
#DinnerDoneWrong
#ShouldHaveGoneToTheBar

Luke's KC Crew | #GreatIdeas Series

This is installment #4 of my 30 "Interesting Idea" Posts #30before31 challenge. The challenge is to think of or find an interesting idea that would solve a problem or fill a gap. One that I have, one that I've seen in the world or one that one of my talented friends or colleagues have put into action. 

I stumbled upon KC Crew about 2 years ago when a friend and I were looking for a softball league to join with friends. The only option that we could find in downtown KC was KC Crew, so we signed up. KC Crew offers a wide variety of sports over multiple season, all culminating in an "end of the season" tournament. 

A few softball seasons later, I was surprised to discover that KC Crew was the brainchild of my former co-worker and peer, Luke Wade, a developer at VML (the company I also worked for in KC). 

Luke grew up a sports enthusiast, playing almost every sport as a kid, playing football in college, rec sports for his fraternity and playing soccer when he was stationed in Iraq. So when he moved to downtown KC, he was ready to join a sports league. But after extensive research he was shocked to discover that the closest sports league was out in the suburbs. After hearing his friends and colleagues complaining about the same thing, he thought why not be the one to solve the problem? 

He had the programming and graphic design skills to create a logo and build a website, initiative to start the league and connections to play. So in January 2012, he launched the KC Crew website and started a league. 

"For the first 6 months, I left my day-job at 5pm every day to ump all the leagues myself. I never thought it would turn into this" he admits. 

At the end of 2012, KC Crew had 1000 players and at the end of 2014, their participants have tripled to almost 3000 players. The league brings revenue to local bars who agree to sponsor specials before and after the game and they also do non-league charity events throughout the year to raise funds and awareness for organizations in the community. And what's so refreshing is the mentality of everything being really fun offering softball leagues, karaoke leagues, beer die leagues and events like Beer Olympics and a zombie End of the World Pub Crawl (which I am sad to say I missed every year). 

KC Crew has been so successful that Luke was able to quit his day job and make owning KC Crew his full-time job, along with getting involved in other initiatives that support the community. 

His vision for KC Crew is expansion & rethinking. He's excited to unveil new software that will change the way people organize their teams and make his job easier and less manual on the back-end. He hopes the new technology will allow to him start leagues in North Kansas City, Waldo, the 'burbs and even expand outside of KC. 

I wish the best of luck to Luke and am inspired by his initiative to solve a problem and bring fun/commerce to the KC community in an incredibly fun way. In fact, I can honestly say that some of my best memories of KC were with friends on that softball field playing in a KC Crew league. 

Technology: 1 | Megan: 0

Currently our office is going through an email migration in phases. This morning I discovered that I have not been receiving emails from a handful of people internally since last Saturday. And yesterday, a few more people got added to that list on Tuesday. 

But I had no way of knowing that the emails were not going through because they were getting my emails and I was getting external emails and some people's internal emails. 

So really I'm just playing a high stakes game of email roulette. Not knowing what emails I'm not getting and what I am... 

Q's (AKA: Quinton Lucas) | #GreatIdeas Series

A few months ago, I realized that I have a lot of friends that have turned a problem into a solution or brought an idea to life. So, I thought why not ask them about it? 

So far I've gotten some great stories and I hope to get a lot more. And hopefully I can do more with their stories than just feature them on my little blog. 

Anyway, for the first installment in the #GreatIdeas Series I'm highlighting, Quinton Lucas, KU law professor (yes, despite my Mizzou affiliation we are still friends) and politician currently running for City Council [3rd district at large] in Kansas City. Oh and of course, a kick-a** trivia teammate. 


Q is a HUGE KC supporter (and I don't just mean a Royals fan - even though I swear I saw a Facebook post at every game this playoff season), but ever since I've known him, he has supported countless causes, organizations and people who want to improve the city. And he's just my age. 

The latest thing that he's been working on getting off the ground is a prison education program in Kansas. The idea was inspired by his experience while teaching inmates at a maximum security prison in New York through Cornell where he saw the positive impact of the program on the inmates.

Cornell's prison education program's goal is to provide valuable education and structure, expand inmate's future opportunities, and prepare them for getting back in the workplace. Through the program, inmate students are offered a variety of classes taught by Cornell faculty and graduate students. 

Q noticed there wasn't anything like that in Kansas City and thought there should be. So being a well-connected and enterprising guy, he reached out to the Missouri Department of Corrections and pitched his idea, but it was rejected. Determined to not let that stop him, he took a shot at reaching out the Kansas Department of Corrections and they were interested! 

He believes this program is really a win-win as it is almost no cost to Kansas taxpayers, a low-cost alternative to other "recreational" prison programs and most importantly - gives inmates a better chance at making a life for themselves and being a positive member of society after their sentence is over. Ultimately improving the city. Quinton hopes that someday this program will become as big (or bigger) than Cornell's program - that there both graduate students and prisoners alike who want to participate in this program.  


I admire Quinton's way of seeing something that happened in one place and asked, why can't we have that here in KC? And figured out a way to make it happen. And something that could definitely impact the city long-term. 

Not only has Quinton been a good friend, but someone who will do great things for Kansas City (and trivia teams) for years to come. 

Cigar Challenge #30before31

So one of my #30before31 challenges was to smoke a cigar. And what better time to do that than at 2am on NYE in 5 degree weather? 

I was able to get it started (yay). But keeping it lit was another story, especially in the subterranean weather with the wind wiping around us. 

After several puffs and two re-lighting attempts, I decided that it wasn't worth risking frost bite and left the cigar with a willing party. 

So I didn't smoke the whole thing, but I did at least half. So that counts in my book. And I didn't light anything on fire or burn anyone. So again, a win. 

Here are 3 things I learned from this experience: 
1. Cigars taste just as bad as cigarettes
2. And give you just as bad hangovers 
3. They apparently make women seem sexy (but probably not ones in a giant parka) 
4. I'm lucky to have friends who will rally behind me when I want to try something new (even if it means standing outside in 5 degree weather) 

I probably won't be smoking one again any time soon, but am glad that I gave it a try.