10 Smile Facts

1. When someone smiles in is universally known as an expression of happiness which is recognized by almost all cultures.

2. When a person studies laughter they are known as a ‘gelotologist’.

3. There are over 18 different types of smiles that are used in a variety of social situations.

4. A smile uses 26 muscles, a frown uses 62.

5. A smile is one of the most used human facial expressions.

6. Smiling releases endorphins and makes us feel better, even when you fake a smile you can feel better.



7. Women smile more often than men.

8. We are born with the ability to smile, it is not something that we copy. For instance, even blind babies are able to smile.

9. Humans are able to differentiate between a real smile and a fake smile by seeing the difference in a persons eyes when they smile.



10. Newborns tend to have more preference for a person with a smile then a person that is not smiling.

So Smile!

**I submit my idea for the Pepsi Refresh Project tonight at Midnight!

Sunburnt to the MAX

I do not burn easily, so I was a little surprised when I discovered my back being a bright red color yesterday evening. The sunburn is because of the 2 full days that I spent working on the Venice Boardwalk.





My booth is up and running, and things are going really well! It is fun being out there during the day, meeting new people and seeing all of the crazy shenanigans that happen constantly.

People are liking the free portion of the booth - where you can write "what makes you smile" on a white board and then a photo is taken and uploaded to facebook. It is kind of hard to keep this PG-13, or even R, when you're dealing with people on the boardwalk...but I try my best to encourage lighthearted answers. A TON of people begin by writing EDC (it is stands for the Electric Daisy Carnival - you leave there loving colors, and my booth looks like a rainbow and skittles had a baby so it makes sense that it attracts people with that "passion?") Luckily, they usually erase it after thinking about the question a little longer, and in my head I say, "Thank You Child." Here are a few photos from this weekend.







































Please note the baby on his shoulders.

























































The smile bands that I am selling are also getting a good response which is unexpected and awesome! I am wearing the colored bands around my wrist and as a headband - I do not look too happy in this photo, but it shows what I am selling.



I will be back out on the boardwalk staring on Wednesday. I need to get some sort of tent type of cover though to block out the sun. Costco perhaps?

iphone 4

I love everything apple. So naturally, this morning I woke up at 4:30AM to get in line at the mac store and get the new iphone 4. I currently own the 1st generation silver back, and it is now time for an UPGRADE.



The people that were waiting in line were techies...business professionals, all worried about having to call in late to work, stating the excuse, "I am in line for a phone."

The line was gadget-ed out. My go to app: Solitaire.

I played more solitaire this morning than I ever have.

























I was hoping I would get some good footage for my smile project, but no. People there had a one track mind and were not into the happiness. One guy agreed to participate...


In the end, the line was going to take all day. I had other business to attend to, so I am going to go back sometime soon - like right after I post this.

Two thumbs up!

I saw Toy Story 3 last night because it had a 98% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. I could not have been more thrilled with the 3-D spectacular. It did not need to be in 3-D, regular movie style would suffice, but nonetheless, they went there. The pixar short that comes before the actual film is in itself enough to go see Toy Story. It is called Day and Night, and is insanely cool. The story line I give a B+, but the animation and theory and concept behind it all, is what makes it so amazing.

Venice Beach is a melting pot

Yes, Venice Beach is a melting pot. It is literally hot and there is pot. If you have not been, it is a circus-like boardwalk that is filled with performers, artists, vendors, and everything else you can dream up.



I got approved to be able to promote my Smile Project on the boardwalk. Because there are about 300 vendors and 100 spots, they use a lottery system on Tuesday mornings where they pick the winners for the week. Two raffles are done, I entered into both: The first one, and the more desirable win, WEEKEND spots- and I got one. I-42, it is between American Apparel and the Kush Doctor. I say, well done. The second drawing, I did not get chosen for. It is the WEEKDAY spots, but I found out that a lot of people do not go on the weekdays, and as long as I have a permit, it is cool to set up on any empty spot. So that is good news!



I will be asking people on the boardwalk the same simple question, "What is the one thing that will always make you smile?"



And, of course because you have to sell something...I will be selling very simple smile bands. Originally I made one for myself and a few friends on a whim, as non-complain bracelets. It was in an effort to recognize the amount of complaining that we did on a daily basis. It is more than you would think. Every time you catch yourself complaining, you switch your non-complain bracelet to your other arm. It works and I highly recommend it. But back to business. I liked how it looked so I now always wear it, sans complain methodology behind it. They are fast, wearable, colorful, and simple to make. Perfect! I am going to promote them as smile bands and use them with an opposite underlying premise. Whenever you find yourself smiling, you switch the wrist the band is on. I think it will make people recognize all of the happiness that fills their days - that usually goes unnoticed and unappreciated.

Pictures coming soon...

I will also be trying out an interesting promotional tactic. It requires a story, so I hope you enjoy.

When I was in NY last week, I went to a Jordin Sparks concert, yes a Jordin Sparks concert. I knew two of her songs and the tickets were free. She went on two hours late. Who does she think she is, Kelly Clarkson! Nonetheless, there was a silver lining to the concert. Besides for the great company, there was a feisty little booth set up promoting the slogan - "Texting Kills." We held up Mike and Ikes and they snapped a photo. Everyone who stepped one foot into the venue was immediately taken into the booth. After you took the picture, they handed you a card that said the picture would be uploaded onto facebook the next day. Then came the kicker, "You can tag yourself." PEOPLE WENT WILD FOR THIS. Mike and Ikes, Jordin Sparks, and death by texting...thrilling combination, right.

But of course, I am now tagged in my picture from that night.



So I am going to try this out. In addition to recording video, I am going to take pictures of the people that enter my booth. I am going to upload them to Facebook in order to increase the amount of people "liking" the Sponsor a Smile Facebook page. In the photo, people will hold up a white board declaring what makes them smile.

My first official day is Saturday the 26th and that gives me about a week of practice before the busiest weekend of the year on the Venice Boardwalk. It is the 4th of July, Americas B-day, Independence day, Happy Birthday good ol' red white and blue. So I have one week of boardwalk prep, and then it is off to the races...

Another Thrilling Dose of Happiness...

Today is a big day and a lucky day! I got my license to be a vendor on the Venice Beach Boardwalk. And every Tuesday morning there is a lottery that determines which vendors get to sell their goods for the week. The odds are one in three, and for me, that is good. I am more lucky than unlucky. I will let you know how it goes soon enough...

About as raunchy as a Dose of Happiness can get..

Watch all the Dose's of Happiness here: http://smilesponsordonate.blogspot.com/

Do Some Good!

On July 1st I will be submitting my application for the Pepsi Refresh Challenge.

What is the Pepsi Refresh Challenge? I am so glad you asked.



Every month, Pepsi gives grants to people and business' with ideas that will have a positive impact. You submit an application to the website, and then people like you have the opportunity to vote for the ideas that they like best.

I could not take advantage of this sooner because my project was being executed outside of the USA. Now that I am in the USA, I will be putting all of my effort into snagging one of the $50,000 grants.

The idea I am submitting is slightly different than my overall concept, because I am looking for funding in a few specific areas.

The "idea" is: I want to create a website documenting the happiness of college students across America.

From August until December I will be taking a road trip across the USA getting this generations view on happiness. All of the students that I interview will become part of an interactive website that shows the happiness of the young people in the country.

**I am looking for suggestions. So if you have any thoughts on how to improve the idea, please share. Either as a comment on this blog, or through email: smilesponsor@gmail.com

The website will also continue to have all of the features that it does now, and my concept is remaining the same. For a few months I am simply focusing on a specific generations point of view.

Side note: I looked up what generation I am in. I really did not know, and I was shocked at what I found.

Thank you Yahoo Answers -

There are multiple generation names for your group.

The Most Popular:
Generation Y
Millennials

Less common:
Google generation
Gamers generation
MySpace generation
Internet generation
The MyPod generation
Zeds/Zees
iGeneration
The corporation generation
Echo Boom (Generation McGuire)


* Less Common has a few winners.



This is the Pepsi Refresh Challenge: http://www.refresheverything.com/index

Check it out! I will be submitting my idea July 1st, and when I do, PLEASE VOTE!!!

New Blog Post

Cue jeopardy theme song now.

The next blog post and smile video will be posted TONIGHT.



This is a local on Venice Beach, California. I like his tandem bike.

Special World Cup Dose of Happiness - NYC

The World Cup is in South Africa

I watched my first World Cup game yesterday - USA vs England. Half of me wanted the USA to win and the other half of me wanted England all the way. The final score was 1 - 1 so everyone wins. I am not sure that I like that there is no winner, but a nice tie can never hurt anyone...besides Michael Scott on casual Friday.



When I was in Europe I assumed that no one in the US cared about the World Cup. I was wrong. I was in NYC, and there, everyone had World Cup Fever...and I loved it!

Dose of Happiness - Brussels, Belgium

The times are a changing...

It has been a long time since I have updated this blog. It is not because I have been lazy and unmotivated, but because I have had the most travel heavy four days of my life - and until I invent a way to give free wifi to the world 24/7, sometimes it can be tough to find.

I do not know where to begin because things have taken a 180 degree turn, a turn for the safer. Going into this trip I was certain that I had the skills and gusto to travel alone wherever the wind blew me. I assumed wrong. And this is where my story begins...

It was Monday morning and I was on a 3 hour train to Amsterdam from Brussels. I was feeling good and ready to go experience the hype of the city. When I arrived I was pretty surprised at what I saw. TOURISTS and bikes. Loads of bikes.



I go strait to my hostel, which seems to be in a central part of the city. I give the man at the front desk my name and he immediately is interested in getting to know me. We talk for a few minutes, and he soon becomes even more interested in my "line of work." I had only been in Amsterdam for maybe 30 minutes, and it did not even cross my mind that being a solo girl traveler, with the name London, who is a dancer, could be misinterpreted easily in a city where prostitution runs wild. Still, not realizing that I had given off the wrong, very wrong, impression, he tells me that he has moved me into a different room that is easier for me to get to if I decide to bring guests back with me. I am in room 001 on the first floor. NOW - a spark goes off.

Because I had already paid, I decide to check out the room anyways. It was filled with creepy older men, and I knew at that moment that I was not going to be staying there. Luckily I was meeting up with friends that were going to be in the city, so now I was on a mission to find wifi and meet up with them ASAP. The only place that I could get online was the bar of the hostel, of course. So I went into the bar to try and connect with them, but because I was sitting alone, men kept coming up to me assuming that I was for sale. It was disgusting. Men are disgusting. Sorry. I left the bar after only a few minutes, made up a terrible excuse, and checked out of the hostel. Luckily my friends gave me a call right at that moment.

I meet my friends at the Dam.






















I was so happy to see them! I was with a group of friends and I immediately felt comfortable and ready to see the city! We walked around and enjoyed the beautiful weather. I began to realize that I was able to enjoy the city ONLY because I was with people I could trust. Throughout the whole time I have been traveling the only times I have actually felt safe, have been while I was with people that I knew. In London I was able to get around just fine and enjoyed my time there, however when traveling in places that are foreign and new, it is difficult to be 100% on top of your shit all of the time. And because I am a girl, it makes it even more necessary...

Amsterdam made me realize that it is not safe for me to be doing this by myself. So, I left the city with my friends on a train going back to where they are spending the summer - Salzburg, Germany!

Well, that was short lived. The trains split in the middle of the night, and I woke up in Zurich, Switzerland.


It was 8:25 AM when I arrived...and it was sunny and warm and I loved it! I was now using Franks, and the paper money is beautiful and colorful. It is for sure my favorite currency system out of the three that I have been using. I vote Franks over US Dollars. (I still like US quarters though, the only other change that has come close is the British Pound...it is AMAZING.)



This is a tough picture to see, but there is a "Like" sign on the trash can with a thumbs up resembling facebook's ever so popular, "Like" button. The question is which came first, Zurich's trashcans and then the facebook feature, or the other way around.



Moving on, I was in Switzerland now and did not know where to go from there. I did not ever want to feel that same way I did in Amsterdam, so I knew I needed to go somewhere that I could take some time to plan out the next leg of the adventure. So I looked for flights back to London because I knew I would be safe there. Tickets were expensive, and trains cost even more. So, I checked for a flight to the other place I knew I would be safe. New York City. And to my surprise, it was cheaper to fly to NYC than London. I spent the night in the Zurich airport, boarded the plane the next morning, and now I am currently I am in NY. I will be here until Sunday.

I have had time to reevaluate this trip. I have spread over 500 smiles overseas, and made everyone smile in the process! I had 25 days of travel by myself and it has made me realize that in order to do this right, I am in need of a travel buddy/crew. Until I find some people to travel the world with, I am now going to be safe and begin my next portion of the trip in the USA! A road trip around the whole county. I still would like to find someone to go with me, so let me know. Wink.

I will be going back to California to gather the necessary goods needed:
#1 Car
#2 A plan of Action
#3 The new iphone

I do not know how long I will be in CA, however I will taking some time to create a more profitable business plan and a more professional looking website. I want to get more of the USA involved in the project, and I know exactly what changes I need to make to do so. I will be submitting an application to the Pepsi Refresh Challenge next month, and I will need everyone's vote so that Sponsor a Smile can become everything that I know it can be!

All of these changes are for the better, but more importantly, for the safer. I care about myself too much to constantly be in places that no lady should be alone. It feels good to be back.

Luck is on my side!

I came to Brussels this weekend simply because I wanted to. I get here and find out that this is THE weekend to be here. There is a festival called EuroFeria that celebrates Spanish culture. It happens only once a year at the foot of the Atomium.




The Atomium forms the shape of a unit cell of an iron crystal, magnified 165 billion times. It was built for the World's Fair in 1958 and was originally planned to remain standing for only six months. However, it soon became a symbol not only of the World's Fair, but of modern architecture and Brussels.

Back to Euroferia! People spoke Spanish! I was so happy - even though I am no expert, I feel comfortable with the language and I am able to communicate the necessary words and phrases. The festival goes on for four days and gets over 200,000 visitors. The next "Dose of Happiness" will show all of the amazing-ness that I experienced yesterday!



Currently I am staying at a great hostel in a very central part of the city.




Free WiFi, cool people, clean rooms, and comfy beds. My room has a total of 6 people, five of us are from the US and one girl is from Australia. She is the first solo girl traveler I have met so far! She has been at it for four and a half months now and tells me it is the time of her life. That was VERY nice to hear...because spending a day at an amazing festival and not having anyone to share the memories with put me in a bit of a funk. It was fate that we are bunk mates now, and she has got my spirits back up! Tonight the six of us are going to go the Delirium Cafe. It is one of the must see stops in Brussels because there are over 2,000 different types of beer available.

On a different note, yesterday I forgot for a second about the French thing and offered to take a picture of a group of people because there was the one odd man out not being able to be photographed with the rest of the group. Well they thought that I was nuts at first, but then embraced my gesture and I took their picture. Afterwards they wanted photos with me! Why, I do not know. But before each one we chanted, "Un Deux Trois Who Ha!" Say WHAT?! The whole time none of us could speak to each other, however a smile worked wonders! (I know it sounds cheesy, but it is true.)


I am looking forward to the upcoming "Dose of Happiness!" EuroFeria was WILD! So get ready...

Goodbye London, Bonjour le Monde

I have left London, and I have made my way to Brussels, Belgium.
Fun fact: Flemish and French are the languages spoken here. Luckily I am fluent in both. Yeah that's not true. Therefore, I have hit my first place where English does not rule the streets. I have been here two hours, and I have learned two words. If I keep going at this rate, I will know 96 words by the time I leave, and that is only if I do not sleep. On average, an 18 month old baby can speak 150 words. I guess we are gonna have some young ones getting Smile Pins here in Brussels.







This was taken right before I boarded the bus in London. Immediately after the picture, I took off my I love London shirt. First of all, it does not match my head scarf. And second of all, I could not be "that girl" leaving London sporting the most touristy purchase of all.

I traveled from London to Brussels via bus.

One may ask, how do you take a bus across the English Channel?
I heard there was a tunnel...

This is my bus story: It was late, midnight, 0:00, and the bus stops. The bus driver says a little something in French, people start to stand up and stretch their legs and then shuffle off the bus. I wait for a few moments, but I am no follower, so I stand my ground. Then it is just me on an empty bus, so I leave. I walk up a huge stairwell and get into a dining area where there is a large buffet of food. It looks like I just walked into the middle of someones family dinner. By the time I had stared down each and every person eating at the large rectangular table, everyone I recognized from my bus had dispersed and was very busy and efficient with their actions. I was walking slow...just watching the commotion going on around me. This place was huge. Finally I hit a map! It's in French. I ask a married couple for some guidance! They answer in Arabic. Then, in the distance, I see the man in charge of this operation! I walk up to him and freeze, I didn't even know what to ask. Finally, words spill out, "I was on a bus." He looks at me, and points to the enormous glass windows that make up the entire perimeter of the space. I walk over, still rocking the same slow skeptical walk. I look outside and what do I see, water. I was on a boat. And then I found $20.

I did not find $20, but I did find the boat's currency exchange. I swapped out my British Pounds for Euros.

That experience, along with recent conversations I had with two friends that are from A LOT of places, have made me realize that beginning in London was a great idea because it gave me a sense of the world outside of the USA, however at the same time I spoke the language swimmingly, and that is huge. Now it is time to bump it up, and I am. I have finished chapter 1 and I have moved onto chapter two. And I title it, blue eyes scare people sometimes. My eyes have caused quite a stir. This morning when ordering coffee, the barista was telling me that my eyes look like stolen jewels that I should return? And I was responding repeatedly, yes I would like my coffee with milk and sugar. Welcome to Brussels Baby!

*I have not slept for a very long time. I think it shows.