The 5 Best Lifestyle Sites for Women

As women, we have so much that interests us: health, beauty, current events, travel… the list goes on and on! If you’re looking for news and tips that directly appeal to you, look no further than ABCey’s favorite women’s lifestyle sites!

1. All Women Stalk | No matter what you’re into- health, celeb gossip, beauty- All Women Stalk has it! Visit the site or download the free app on your iPhone for daily articles about tips, tricks, and trends in the fields that interest you.

2. Brit.co | Think of this site as Martha Stewart for the modern gal! Technology, cooking, decorating, and style are mixed with a DIY flair to keep you creative and crafty!

3. The Beauty Bean | True beauty, health, and wellness tips and articles without a focus on dieting and getting thin. This site will make you feel truly beautiful inside and out without the negative attitudes!

4. Corporette | Are you an overachieving career chick? This is the perfect site for you (and all those who want to be)! If your lifestyle IS your career, you’ll love the job advice and fashion tips for being office fabulous.

5. She Knows | Every part of your life (parenting, home, health, love… the list never ends!) ends up on one all-inclusive site. Whatever She knows, you’ll be excited to know too!

What’s your favorite lifetsyle site or app? Tell us about it in a comment and on Facebook & Twitter!

Tech Tuesday: Would You Eat A Stranger’s Leftovers?

Tech Tuesday highlights the best and brightest ideas in the tech world. ABCey would like to recognize these up and coming companies for their innovative ideas and ability to think outside the box!

We repeat: would you eat a stranger’s leftovers?! LeftoverSwap, a San Francisco-based startup, thinks you might.

After a large, hearty meal, handing over your leftovers to a friend or someone in need isn’t that big of a deal. Yet when the process is standardized in the form of the app LeftoverSwap, sharing leftover food moves from an afterthought into a grey area.

The service is designed to cut down on waste from uneaten food and allow those in need to buy the leftovers cheaply. Simply take a picture of those last few pizza slices and someone in the area will pay to come get them. LeftoverSwap claims that what they’re doing is good for people, the environment, and communities… but are they right?

LeftoverSwap, like many other peer-to-peer tech services, has been on the bad end of public criticism. The online community is not shy about showing their disdain for what they call “disgusting meals” from “unstable strangers.” San Francisco Health Officials maintain that it is illegal to sell food in the city without a permit and that “leftover food is a huge source of food-borne illness.” LeftoverSwap’s CEO asks users to trust in their common man, a practice he says will support community-building through the trust-forming relationships built when people share food.

What do you think of the LeftoverSwap app: does it spread community love or just food poisoning? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section or on Facebook and Twitter!

Startup Monday: Splash

Startup Monday is ABCey’s weekly post that features some of the best and brightest companies in the Bay Area. They are often companies that we have our eye on or have worked with in the past that we would like to share with the friends and followers of ABCey Events.

It’s time to usher events into the online age. It’s about time you used Splash.

Splash, a service to better event goer’s online experiences, is like the Apple of event apps. Unlike Ticketmaster and Eventbrite, Splash boasts an extremely user-friendly interface so event planners can take control of the event’s internet buzz. The team will help you in every stage of the event process from building budgets to tracking tasks!

With Splash, you can create a mobile-friendly customized event website, custom e-vites, and social media galleries! This service even makes it easier to get guests to your event. Tickets can be sold through the website and Splash keeps track of every RSVP and mobile check-in!

We think Splash is a great tool for large-scale events… what do you think? Tell us your thoughts in a comment below, on Facebook, or Twitter!

10 Interesting Social Media Facts

Social media plays a huge role in our lives, whether we like it or not! To honor our Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn accounts, ABCey compiled a list of the most interesting social media fun-facts. Enjoy!

1. Half of all smartphones connect to Facebook every hour of every day!

2. 20% of Google searches every day have never been searched before. Which begs the question: what the heck are you searching??

3. The most optimal photos (ones that get the most likes and repins) on Pinterest are photos of salad.

4. “Earlybird” is the most popular Instagram filter, yet 47% prefer #nofilter.

5. The average LinkedIn user is a male college graduate.

6. Twitter handles more search queries per month than Bing and Yahoo combined!

7. Links about sex are shared 90% more than any other link. (Doesn’t its inclusion on this list say it all?)

8. 53% of people on Twitter recommend products in their tweets, which is important because most people trust recommendations from friends versus the 14% of people who trust advertisers. Social media is more important to business than you’d think!

9. 7% of Americans have never heard of Facebook. We don’t know how this happened.

10. More than 350 million users suffer from Facebook Addiction Syndrome.

Want to channel some social media yourself? Tell us what you think of this article with a comment here or on Facebook & Twitter!

ABCey’s Weekend Line-Up: 7.25.13-7.28.13

There is SO much to do this weekend all over the bay area! From learning about the science of beer or business tactics to SF scavenger hunts, there’s no way you’ll face boredom this weekend. Have a great time in the bay with ABCey!

1. Science of Brewing Nightlife | Thursday, July 25th | 6:00 p.m.- 10 p.m. | California Academy of Sciences | Beer drinkers and science lovers rejoice! CAS Nightlife’s theme this week promises a beer hall, tasty bar snacks provided by Whole Foods, DIY coasters, brew talks, and, of course, music. See you there!

2. WordCamp San Francisco | Friday, July 26th- Saturday, 27th | Mission Bay Conference Center | Need to get the most out of WordPress? Now’s the time to have all your questions answered, listen to over 30 speakers on the possibilities of this web service, and network with over 1,000 attendees.

3. Wine, Women & Shoes | Saturday, July 27th | 11:00 a.m.- 3:00 p.m. | Charles Krug Winery, Napa | Do all of your normal Napa activities (shopping, wining, & dining) for charity this weekend! Proceeds from auctions and sales at this event go towards supporting Napa Emergency Women’s Services.

4. Renegade Craft Fair | Saturday, July 27th- Sunday, July 28th | Fort Mason Center | Who loves getting crafty? We do! Meet hundreds of indie-inspired makers who create everything from jewelry to custom books, attend workshops, and get inspired!

5. Summer Circus in the Park | Friday, July 26th | 12:30 p.m. | Marin City Ballfield | The circus gets a classy facelift! Contemporary versions of all your circus favorites, like trapeze, rope walking, and acrobatics, are set to original live music by Robert Reich.

6. JPOP Summit Festival |Saturday, July 27th- Sunday, July 28th | Japantown | This pop culture-themed street fair is going to be HUGE! Tons of musical acts, films, and assorted activities will be initiated by a sake barrel break.

7. Burning Man Scavenger Hunt | Saturday, July 27th | 12:00 p.m. | Hayes Valley Park | The best way to explore SF is definitely on a wild scavenger hunt! Sponsored by Burning Man, spend your Saturday competing for prizes with your friends by being the first to find everything on the list!

8. Berkeley Kite Festival | Saturday, July 27th | Berkeley Marina | Kites aren’t for just for kids! Enjoy seeing the sky fill with artistic and unique kites floating over the bay and the SF skyline.

9. Park Street Art & Wine Faire | Saturday, July 27th | Park Street, Alameda | Celebrate summer with over 300 craft and food vendors, local wines, and regional beers.

10. Young Professionals Summit | Thursday, July 25th | Woodruff-Sawyer & Co | Designed to promote next-gen leadership, learn how to thrive at work and get what you want while getting things done.

What are you doing this weekend? Which event looks the most fun? Tell us in a comment or on Facebook & Twitter!

How To: Party on the Cheap!

It’s summertime and there’s ALWAYS a reason to celebrate! Getting the gang together for a night out “just because” can get pricy, but don’t let that stop you! ABCey wants you to have a fun mini-event while staying within budget. Here are our favorite ways to party on the cheap!

1. Find your Happy Hour | Absolutely no one with normal job hours can make a 4 p.m. happy hour. Look for bars with both food and drink specials, like El Rio in the Mission. Their happy hour goes from 1 p.m.-8 p.m. and on Fridays after 5:30, they give away free oysters. Sounds like the happiest hours of the week!

2. Take it Outside | When the weather’s this perfect, who can bother staying indoors? Tell your friends to grab a blanket and a potluck dish and meet you at the nearest park, beach, or garden! Pro tip: keep an eye out for free outdoor events in your city, like concerts and craft fairs. There’s nothing better than taking in music, friends, and good food on a summer day!

3. Stalk it Out | All around your city on any given day, there are dozens of events going on that you don’t even know about! Be up to date on your city’s happenings with websites like Fun Cheap SF that help you stay on top of all things free and inexpensive. Bet you didn’t know that there’s a free core & endurance outdoor workout today at Kezar Stadium in SF!

4. Night at the Museum | When the sun goes down, skip the bars and head straight for the museum! Spots like the California Academy of Sciences, the De Young, and the Exploratorium offer free exhibits and special events or tickets cheaper (and more inclusive) than regular admission. Let’s be honest: haven’t you always wanted to have a glass of wine while looking at art?

5. BYOB | Nothing makes wine taste sweeter than paying $15 a bottle in a restaurant! OpenTable has a list of restaurants that allow BYOB and don’t have a corkage fees. Bring the party with you by buying your own booze (and maybe slipping in a flask for yourself!)

What do you and your friends do to have a fun night out on the cheap? Let us know in a comment or on Facebook & Twitter!

Tech Tuesday: The 10 Best Disruptive Apps

So many innovative ideas in the tech world come in the form of disruptive services, meaning they show up an existing service by presenting a better version. Think of them as tech life hacks!

1. PaperKarma | You can FINALLY stop getting catalogs from that weird store you bought from 5 years ago! With the PaperKarma app, just take a picture of the unwanted mail and they take care of the rest.

2. Sidecar | Ride-share companies connecting the car haves and have-nots are incredibly popular cab alternatives, but Sidecar is our favorite. It was born and raised in San Francisco, the cars are nice and the people friendly, and we’ve never had to wait more than 3 minutes for a ride!

3. Fantastical | This event calendar for Mac lets users customize the language in their event details so it’s easier for them to read. Plus, Fantastical recognizes the event’s location and can invite your contacts to join you!

4. SwiftKey | It is so nice to stop saying, “damn you, autocorrect!” Swiftkey for Android, iPhone, and tablet learns how you type so it can better predict your next word. Their newest feature, Flow, allows the user to send messages by swiping their finger over the letters.

5. Sparrow | By incorporating Dropbox and drag-and-drop attachments into e-mail, Sparrow became the highest grossing app less than a day on the market! Since its acquisition by Google, we expect to see some awesome changes to our gmail mailbox!

6. Dark Sky | While you can never really trust the weather reports for the Bay Area, technology is getting close! Dark Sky tells you the weather report in your specific GPS location with up-to-the-minute accuracy.

7. Robin for Android | Watch out Siri, there’s a new girl on the road! Navigating traffic can be tough, but Robin handles your social media, navigation, music, parking, and texting for you! Just tell her what you want with hands-free voice control and let her take on the tasks while you’re at the wheel.

8. Camera + | This app makes Instagram’s filters look like the dark ages! Unlike the iPhone camera, this app allows you to manage brightness, focus, and exposure with separate taps before you take your picture. The incredible editing features will turn your snaps into works of art!

9. Spotify |Instead of making the uncomfortable decision between buying every song on iTunes and stealing songs online, Spotify showed us a new way to enjoy music. Live streaming Spotify radio on your phone kills your battery but it’s completely worth it!

10. Dropbox | The world breathed a collective sigh of relief when Dropbox freed us from flash-drives. Now, we can’t imagine a time before sharing files wasn’t as easy as clicking “upload” and “share!”

Do you use these apps? Tell us what you think of them and our list in the comments section or on Facebook and Twitter!

ABCey’s Weekend Lineup: 7.18.13 – 7.21.13

Another week has come and gone and, before you know it, it’s time to plan for the weekend! Keep your calendar full by walking for the greater good, schmoozing with your fellow winos, and keeping an eye out for the next big tech innovations! Enjoy the week ahead with ABCey and our top event picks.

1. Silicon Valley Innovation Summit | July 23rd-24th, 2013 | Computer History Museum, Mountain View, Ca |The tech industry’s top entrepreneurs, corporate players, innovators, and investors come together under one roof for two days all in the name of technology! Get ready for rousing debates and discourse on entertainment, digital media, cloud technology, and more. The summit is exclusive in order to retain an intimate, connection-based atmosphere- we hope you’re lucky enough to score a seat!

2. AIDS Walk San Francisco | July 21st, 2013 | 9:30 a.m.- 1:30 p.m.| Sharon Meadow, Golden Gate Park | You’ve seen hundreds of ads around the city for months and the big day is finally here! It’s time to support and give back to the community in a fun, active way with a beautiful walk through Golden Gate Park. Every penny of the $1.7 million dollars raised so far (and rising!) goes directly to San Francisco-based charities that support AIDS victims and research.

3. Winestock | July 20th-21st, 2013 | Firehouse 8 | For all you oenologists out there, bring your tasting glasses and get ready to taste over 100 different wines! Celebrate Napa Valley’s prosperous wine industry with a weekend in the company of winemakers, local artisans, and foodies galore. Don’t forget to attend one of the master classes, like the ones on sparkling wines or 3-course tasting menus!

4. 500 Startups Demo Day | July 24th- 25th, 2013 | Demo Day is the first glimpse into the major players that will participate in 500 Startups, a series of events to fund early-stage companies. Although this event is mainly for serious investors and the 500 Startups participants, keep an eye on this one! Something tells us big things will be happening here.

5. Industry Night with the SF Giants | July 24th, 2013 | 5:00 p.m.- 7:00 p.m. | 24 Willie Mays Plaza | In addition to seeing the Giants kill the Cincinnati Reds, attend Industry Night for an early pre-game! A full bar and local DJ talents are sure to get you excited to cheer on your Giants. Plus, you get some sick free Giants headphones!

Featured Event: Wanderlust!

Wanderlust Festival |July 18th-21st, 2013 | Squaw Valley, Ca | Are you ready to find your true North? This four-day festival celebrating yoga, music, and nature is the place to be for those seeking peace of mind and holistic wellbeing! Between the massages, wide selection of yoga classes, and hikes in the picturesque wilderness, you”ll never want to leave.

What will you be doing this weekend? Tell us in the comment section or on Facebook and Twitter!

A Drink and A View: The Best Rooftop Bars in SF

When the fog settles in after sunset, the city can get a little chilly for some. We’re thankful that a little fog didn’t stop these five bar owners! If you’ve been looking for the perfect places to spend those warm San Franciscan nights, ABCey has you covered!

1. Jones | 620 Jones Street | You might have overlooked this TenderNob gem, but on Friday nights, you can’t ignore the huge line down the hill! Inside, the bar is futuristically chrome, which opens up to a wooden, earthy rooftop space. Their focus is clearly cocktails, and it would be an injustice to pass up “Tears of a Gypsy” or a “Kensington Zinger,” both made with their house-made syrups!

2. El Techo de Lolinda | 2518 Mission Street | Incredible food, creative drinks, and a rooftop view? We dare you to stop us on our way up to this fifth floor cantina, which translates to “Lolinda’s Roof.” Jazzed-up Latin American street food like chicharrones and ceviche pair wonderfully with the tropical rum, pisco, and tequila laden cocktail lineup. Get ready to be wowed by El Techo’s tapas plating style and the stunning views of San Francisco.

3. Bluestem Brasserie | 1 Yerba Buena Lane | Enjoy Napa Valley’s finest and freshest ingredients in Bluestem’s familiar yet refined brasserie cuisine. And if you’ve come for a drink, there are plenty to choose from! In addition to an impressive selection of scotch and cocktails (who doesn’t want to try a Honey Badger?), they have wine and beer on tap in addition to our Napa Valley favorites.

4. The View | 55 4th Street | Decor and carpeting aside, if you’re looking for incredible San Francisco views through Gotham City-style windows, head down to the Marriott Marquis in the Financial district. They offer the normal array of cocktails and bar food, but on a clear night, the view is remarkable!

5. The Starlight Room | 450 Powell Street | Classic and sometimes kitchy, you gotta love the Starlight Room for its charm as a San Francisco icon. Their cocktail menu is designed to take you through time from the 1600’s to Present Day, and everything from the food to the drinks is done with class and elegance. Where else but San Francisco can you have a Bellini at a Sunday’s a Drag brunch?

What do you think of our picks? Do you have any to add? Tell us in a comment or on Facebook and Twitter!

Tech Tuesday: PaperTab

In a world where we look to Apple for innovation, the powerhouse is forced to step aside and make way! A collaboration between Intel, Plastic Logic, and Queen’s University lead to PaperTab, a new kind of tablet.

PaperTab might actually confuse you for a piece of paper! At 10.7-inches long and 7.2mm thick, it’s about an 18th of the thickness of an iPad mini. Although it is in relatively early stages of development, the PaperTab performs the basic functions of its big-league tablet counterparts. Its flexible touchscreen allows users to send files and e-mails and browse documents with simple hand gestures. PaperTab can display and track thousands of files, all of which are kept on a cloud.

The big question remains: Why should I buy one? In our opinion, the PaperTab is perfect for business. It’s lightweight, can fit in any briefcase, and lets you read and store thousands of documents on the go. One of the coolest features of this gadget is that you can combine them side-by-side to share files by touch! The company has plans to sell their displays at $20 apiece for now, which means companies would be able to buy them in bulk.

We think the PaperTab would find its niche in the business sector- What are your thoughts? Let us know in a comment on Facebook or Twitter!