San Francisco AIDS walk

If you have a couple of extra dollars in the next couple of weeks, please consider sponsoring my friend Matt Deal who is participating in the San Francisco AIDS walk. He is an awesome guy and he is doing something great for the Bay Area community which I really admire. Please follow this link to his donation page. Thanks Matt.

Lizzie gets deserved attention again!

Lizzie got a quote from her blog again in the Washington Post Express edition. You can find her post by clicking this link.
Scroll down to page 32 and her blog quote has the title "No, You Aren't in California". The OC girl is making a new home in the Express. Congratulations again Liz!

All Signs Point to Sign-A-Rama

Tomorrow night begins my journey into what could be a very successful venture. My father is completely sold on buying a Sign-A-Rama franchise. After several meetings with key area executives and store owners he has decided that this is the way to go. My father has over 20 years of quick-service management experience which should serve him well in running a Sign-A-Rama store. He also has a huge head start with his MBA that he earned from James Madison University. So currently its going to be my mother, father, sister, cousin, and myself involved with this. We all bring different strengths and weaknesses to the table so its going to be interesting. My father and sister tend to be on the outgoing, extroverted side, while my mother and I tend to be analytical and the planning type. As for my cousin, I am not really sure, we will just put her somewhere in between.

Back to the East

TransAmerica building
Originally uploaded by thegoodlifewithjp.

Right now I'm working on putting my photos from San Fran on Flickr. So far it seems like a great site and if you would like to put an online photo gallery together, I would highly suggest it. I'll let you know when it's done.

Happy Anniversary Lizzie!

So this weekend Liz and I are traveling to San Francisco to celebrate our two year anniversary. It’s been a wonderful two years full of plenty of ups and very few downs. So with that being said it’s been a very solid stable relationship that I treasure. Thanks Lizzie!

So now its on to San Fran. Neither Liz or I have ever been to there so it should be fun. I'll make sure to post lots of pics when we get back. See ya kids!

Peanuts, Cracker Jack, and Gay Pride

Liz, Dave Connelly and I spend my whole day last Saturday in DC. The first half was spent watching my loveable Nats vs the Phillies. We had great seats thanks to my wonderful brother-in-law Charles Pittman. Thanks Charles! We also received a wonderful prize to add to my collection of sports memorabilia, a Chad Cordero bobblehead. One down, Jose Guillen and Screech bobbleheads to go.

The second half of my day was spent at the Gay Pride parade in Dupount Circle. In case you didn't know, Liz and I met at the Gay Pride parade two years ago through a mutual friend. The parade was pretty interesting this year. The first part was actually very political. Marching in the parade was DC City Council and Mayoral candidate Linda Cropp. DC Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton also particpated. The largest ovation came for another DC City Council member and Mayoral candidate, Adrian Fenty, who the gay community loves.

My own Arlington County Police Department made an apparence along with my former county of resences' police department, the Fairfax County Police Department.

The latter part of the parade was full of scantely clothed men and what I think we woman. A topless chick on a float, lots of choreographed dancing, gay cowboys, trannies, the usual. All in all its a pretty fun event and its cool to be to be a part of.

Franchise Madness Part II

Continuing with the franchise theme that I started yesterday, there is an interesting article in the Washington Business Journal today. The article is about a man named Jim Rudolph who bought a business and is about to turn it into a franchise after many years of being a franchisee. He plans on taking Rita's Water Ice with its 349 stores and opening 70 franchses this year.

I think the concept of creating a franchise is an outstanding idea, which I hope to do myself one day. For right now I'll be happy becoming a franchisee. I did actually talk to a representative of Francorp at the International Franchise Expo this past weekend. Francorp specializes in taking a company and turning it into a franchise. They are basically consultants who walk you through step-by-step.

Lizzie gets deserved attention

Liz got her post about Race for the Cure from the past Sunday published in the Washington Post Express yesterday. For those who don't know the Washington Post Express is basically the lightweight verison of the Washington Post.

Here is a link to a pdf of her quote. The quote can be found on page 32. If you have a chance please take a second to congratulate Liz on her wonderful accomplishment. Congratulations Liz!

Franchise Madness

I attended the International Franchise Expo this weekend and I will say that I came away very pleased with my $25 investment for entry. It was great to go around from exhibit to exhibit discussing with people ways to build a successful business. If you are ever interested in buying a franchise, a franchise expo will be a great experience for you. It's really nice to have someone in front of you to answer all of your questionsand to gather information that would normally take you months to get otherwise.

For myself, I have absolutely fallen in love with the idea of owning a franchise. I've tried starting businesses in the past and what I've found is that it can be very difficult trying to build a business from scratch. With a franchise you are buying a proven business system that someone has already put together for you.

Some of the other benefits of buying a franchise over starting your own business include:

• Using a trade name that is already recognizable.
  
• The company will do the advertising for you.
  
• Having a support network already put together for you.

Some of the downsides are:

• You may have to pay fees for using their name, system, management or additional fees.
  
• The opportunity for being creative isn't always there because you have to follow their set rules and standards.
  
• The franchisor may go out of business.

Every franchise is going to have its own unique strengths and weaknesses. With that being said the lists above were just to give you a general idea of what one can expect when buying a franchise.

If you are further interested in learning about franchises log onto Entrepreuner.com's Franchise Zone. There you will find Entrepreuner.com's Franchise 500, Top Homebased Franchises, Top Low-Cost Franchises, and Top New Franchises among others.

Race for the Cure

Photo credits: Liz Contreras My mom and I.

The Washington Monument.

George's crip.

The Capitol.

The back of my head as I sprint toward the finish line!

My Race for the Cure experience was fantastic this year! It is a really special event to be a part off. I would like to thank Deidre DiPerna, Jim Kennedy, and Heather Valadez for making donations. Additionally, thanks again to my peeps that donated before that were mentioned in my previous post. Your efforts are truely appreciated!

There were some intriguing faces at the race. Making special apperences at were Washington D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams, a.k.a. Mayor Bow-tie, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice who did the countdown to the start of the race honors, and Channel 9's news anchor (Washington D.C.'s CBS affilate) J.C. Hayward who I got an autograph from.

That wraps it up for this year, I can't wait to do it again next year.