To start off this morning, I'm going to let you in on a little insider about me: I am not your average American. In fact, I am technically a British-American – sailing the ocean blue in 1999. As I will be visiting the motherland in a couple weeks, I thought I'd give a few tips for traveling across the pond.

1) Stand on the right: This is essential if you’re using the London underground. Never, ever stand on the left when traveling on an escalator as people in a hurry will be rushing past on the left and do not take kindly to people standing in their way.

2) Go for a “cheeky Nando’s”: Nando’s to England is like Chipotle to the U.S. – it’s everywhere and always being craved for. Even though there are much better eating establishments than this grilled chicken chain, I still highly recommend a visit. And don’t forget the Peri Peri sauce!

3) Starbucks is not universal: Don’t go into a Starbucks in England (if you can find one that easily) and order your favourite frou frou beverage. You will only be received with weird looks from the baristas.

4)Train prices are expensive: England may have the U.S. beat when it comes to accessibility of public transportation, but that doesn’t mean that rail fares come cheap. Sometimes, it might even be more reasonable to look into renting a car or taking your journey by coach if you want to save on pricey train fares.

5) Mastering the use of two taps: In the U.S., we usually have one tap that fuses hot and cold water to the temperature of your liking. However, in England, be prepared for freezing cold water streaming from the cold tap and scalding hot water rushing from the hot tap - which is kinda a pain to get the water just right. 

Hey SlideBelts,

As you know, we've had some major ups and downs when it comes to music being played in our office. We've tried a handful of solutions in order to improve the quality and diversity of genre. As Meagan and I have learned - making everyone happy with 100% of the music selections is an impossible task. Keeping those selections CLEAN is also a difficult process - often requiring us to listen through a song in its entirety or researching lyrics online. (I'm looking at you rap. You spit some sick lines and then fit in just enough edge, at the end of the song, to get you bumped out of the playlist).

Anywho! Meagan and I have come up with a decent foundation of a playlist. We have 18 hours of pre-screened content and counting. The whistling, head-nodding, and occasional booty shaking is altogether on the up and up! At this point, I think it is a good idea to take recommendations. The idea here is not to create a ""one size fits all"" playlist. Instead, we are looking to cram in as many of your recommendations as possible. So long as they follow these few requirements.

1:Keep it clean. If the song is bleeping out obscenities, chances are it isn't a good candidate for our brand. Ask yourself: If a guest were to walk into our establishment, would they be put off?

2: Keep it up-beat (mostly). We want to keep the atmosphere of SlideBelts upbeat and energetic.

Here are some quick rules to follow in regards to the music player.

1: Do not skip songs. You may not like a particular song, but someone else in the office very likely does. Be respectful and let them finish their private mosh session. (email us if you HATE a song. I already deleted some questionable Taylor Swift).

2: Keep the volume at 60%. Any lower and the Great Hall can't hear anything. Any higher and Operations can't hear each other talk. So, please, leave the volume dial alone.

Right now I can tell you that Rap/ Country/ R&B are highly under-represented. Please take the opportunity to send in your recommendations to either Meagan or myself.

Thank you!!!

I hope you all have a happy, fun and safe 4^th of July!