Category Archives: friends

Looks Like I Might Have Another Great Opportunity

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Welcome to the Ultimate Blogging Party

A little late than never, but I thought it would be easier to make this post a sticky…so consider things stuck! Daily (or so) posts follow below.

Holy cow, I can’t believe that I posted about the Ultimate Blog Party 2009 about a month ago and I still manage to forget to sign up and post! Please forgive me. I will have to take some time and get a real, welcomey sort of post up here. Right now, I just have to post my hasty hello! and run.

Here are the basics (will tweak more later, after I get back from dinner)…

thirty-something blogger far too close to becoming a forty-something blogger
run a small business leading workshops and teaching small business the benefits of social media and blogging
also run an amazing community and blogsite that hosts regular weekly giveaways (and why I don’t have one up here)
have another business that I plan to be getting started over the next couple months, but am still a little hushhush about it
I’m not a fan of the term “mompreneur” as I feel it separates us as women and think that we’d do better to support each other in business as much as possible – while I’ll agree that moms have an additional challenge or two than others may not have, but it doesn’t mean that a child-free entrepreneur doesn’t also have additional challenges to face (during my first years in business, like many, I worked full time, but at one point, I also took full time care of my father-in-law as he lost his battle with cancer — different challenges, but still difficult challenges for a young business none-the-less). Basically, I’m just not a fan of pitting women against women, I think that unfortunately we can do that ourselves without the media getting involved and categorizing us.
I’ve been blogging on and off for about 5 or so years now in fact, I write on three blogs
I attended BlogHer last year, but won’t be this year
love my crazy, workaholic husband who is currently at SXSW doing his music-lovin’ thing (our 5th anniversary is right around the corner)
we’re child-free, but have two adorable little fur-kids (much as I might hate that expression) – one cat that’s been waking me up too damn early this past week and one dog that never seems to stop barking
when the mood strikes me, I can curse like a sailor (and why I’m in the not-so-family-friendly category)
I love taking photos and sometimes participate in Wordless Wednesday – can’t stand editing though, so I tend to post my images raw, straight outta the camera
I love in the greater Los Angeles area (moved her to marry my husband) and miss seasons (and winter particularly) tremendously
I’m a Jersey Girl born and bred, though I moved southward when I was 20 or so – I still have the accent on occasion, but will either need to be drunk or very excited (doesn’t mean the occasional “shoew-oar” (sure) won’t slip out – and yes, it cracks my husband, the native Angelino up)
I love nothing more than a great cup of tea, though when out and about, I live on lattes or iced coffees
that’s all I can think of right now, but I do have this 7 Things post that might share a couple of insights
Edited to Add: just realized that while I’m too exhausted to create a more witty post, I can just link you to last year’s post and that should give you an idea of what I’m about

Oh yeah, I may as well write this here since I know it’s getting the page views…I’m always looking for bloggers on my site. If you’re interested in learning more about the opportunity, drop me a note.

Proper welcome to come okay, that’s not happening now, but I have been adding more and more to this post each day. Please feel free to stay and visit a while….

And did I mention that there are prizes involved? Me, I’m most interested in the following:

#58 – Kitchaid Mixer

#19, #21 and #22 – all $50 Target gift certificates

#111 Afternoon Tea in a Box (I do love me some tea)

and lastly #12 a $20 gift certificate to The Gift Closet

What prizes are you interested in?

Home Alone

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When you’re home alone, do you do things differently, or notice that things freak you out more than usual?

Granted, I also live with a will-bark-at-anything dog and a scaredy cat cat, but between the two, there’s a lot going on. Last night, right before I fell asleep, I heard a strange sound in the kitchen. It almost sounded like the back door opened. Mind you, nothing from ether of the boys, so it must’ve all been in my head. Then again this morning, another odd sound. And still nothing from the alarm boys.

So it got me thinking, when you’re home alone, do you freak out a little more easily? I notice I’m more willing to lock the door than I am on any other, typical day. Last night, I actually even wondered why we don’t have additional deadbolts on the doors – something that isn’t even a concern on any other night. I also notice that I’m more likely to close the blinds and windows. Which of course is crazy because it’s really not any different than any other day or night.

So I ask you, do you do anything differently when you’re home alone?*

*Like maybe not announcing to the blogosphere that you’re home alone?

Calling All You Manicure Lovin’ Gals

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I have a question….how can I extend my manicure?

I just got them trimmed & polished for Friday (job/client interview) and I want them to still look great. In the meantime, I still need to change up the bedding, do some dishes (at least twice), wash my hair (at least once), have much, much typing to do and who knows what else?

Typically, polish seems to peel off my nails within a couple of hours. Regardless of the brand of polish. I think though, that since being on my thyroid meds, along with my nails being in better shape overall, they also hold onto polish longer. But I’m not so sure since I usually bring my own Sticky to use as a basecoat (it helps).

Thing is, the gal forgot on my right hand and only got my left. I need this to last until at least Friday evening…then I don’t care.

So I ask you…what do I do? Do I just need to wear rubber gloves while near water and avoid all typing or manual labor until post-meeting?
Update: never mind, the polish is already peeling – no showers, no dishwashing, just basic day to day living *sigh*

Make New Friends, But Keep the Old…

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…one is silver and the other is gold.

silver-and-gold

Or at least that’s what the old childhood song taught us. Thing is, I’m learning that as an adult, it’s not always so easy to keep those old (or those new) friendships going. Sometimes, life just happens. Kids are born. Marriages end. People get transferred. Families get complicated. Time in the day starts to run out.

How do you keep relationships going?

I’ll be the first to admit that while I have some great friends and many of those friends are friends I’ve had in my life for many, many years, I don’t necessarily have friends from my childhood. Okay, have one great friend from high school that I’m still in touch with and now thanks to Facebook, I’ve reconnected with an old elementary school friend online. My HS friend and I talk regularly, send emails and get together when we can (though now that he got married and is on the family track, that will more than likely change).

I also have great friends that I met as an adult. Both of these are long distance (one is even international) relationships and have been for over 10 years now. We don’t talk on the phone much. We don’t get to see each other often. And we rarely get around to emailing. But you know, every time we do talk or get together, it’s as if we were just together last week. Things just carry on as if we see and talk to each other all the time. I love that.

I also love that when it’s possible, we do meet up. I’ve flown to Dallas to hang out with my international teaching friend to be able to spend time with her. Last year, she met me in the wine country for the day so we could hang out and introduce the menfolk (and in each case, meet the other’s significant other). My GA friend I get to see more frequently since I try to visit my dad every couple of years. She’s an angel tough and no matter how busy her family and work life can get, she makes sure we meet for lunch at least once and offers up her spare bedroom so I don’t have to spend all my time trapped with my dad (I’m sure you all know what that can feel like).

The best part about friendship is knowing that you’ll always be there for each other…happy or sad, good or bad. As my girlfriend and I like to say…It’s in the contract!

But what happens when friendships start to become work?

I have a friend that I would do anything for. She’s a new mom, lives with her parents and has some serious family and medical stuff to deal with. I love spending time with her and her family. Thing is, she won’t return calls. And she won’t return emails or texts (or cards). I know that she’s the type that tends to hide away when things get difficult (I saw this when she was having marriage issues) and I can respect that. But it’s getting old.

A one-sided friendship isn’t a friendship at all. And well, I wouldn’t let my spouse treat me this way, why would I let a friend? I’ve reached the point that I feel like I’ve just got to give up and walk away. I’ll still be there if there ever comes a time when she might need me, but I can’t keep spending all this time and energy reaching out to her when she can’t even take a moment to reply to an email, text or voicemail. It’s tough though having to make a decision like that, knowing that I think of her often.

So it’s got me wondering…as an adult, how many close friends would you say you have in your life and how often do you connect? Have you ever had to quit on a friendship?

What Do You Do About that Maiden Name?

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Thanks to Facebook, I’ve recently connected with three old friends from my past. Each friend said that when they Googled my maiden name, nothing came up (mind you, my married name will give you over 10 solid pages of results thanks to press releases and articles I’ve written and people I’ve interviewed). So it got me thinking about what I could do to get my maiden name out there in Googleland.

With the help of some of my Twitter friends, here’s what I came up with:

add your maiden name to all your online profiles – Facebook and LinkedIn in particular since that’s where many people search first.
create a blog just to keep you maiden name active – have accurate contact info available and be sure to have at least one post with your maiden name spelled out
create an additional twitter account using your first and last name (or at least your first initial and last name) – be sure to use a URL where you can be contacted and either a tweet (if you won’t be using the account) or a brief bio letting folks know that this isn’t your primary account and where they can find you. You can also feed your blogs into this account to keep it busy

I had the first one done for a couple years now (and I notice that many social media profiles now – especially those that cater to women – have a place for your maiden name). I’ll get on doing the blog one at some later date. I figured right now, it was easiest create a second (um…fourth) Twitter acount and feed two of my three blogs there. We’ll see how things go over the next couple of weeks.

So I ask you…do you care if people from your past can’t find you through Google? And if youdo care, what have you done to make it easier for old friends to find you online?

What Would You Like for Valentine’s Day?

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: Image by mozzercork via Flickr

Buying gifts for the various holidays and birthdays just isn’t very big in our house. Even when I do ask for a gift, it’s typically something housewares-y or domestic (which is hear is all wrong). I’m planning on creating a shopping guide (you have no idea how much I adore checking out shopping guides) just for this Valentine’s day for my site and our newsletter.

So I ask for your input…what would you like for Valentine’s Day? Chocolate, jewelry, perfume, a new lipstick, a special book, what? I’m open to any and all suggestions.

What the Hell, it’s February Already?

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: Image by dhammza via Flickr

Where did January go? Maybe it would seem a bit more like February if we actually had had some cooler January temperatures. Seriously, 80 degrees in January?!?! There’s just something seriously wrong with that. Especially when the rest of the country is dealing with crazy cold temperatures, snow and ice.

Well, I guess I just need to suck it up and welcome dear February. The good thing about new months, is that it gives you permission to try something new.

Thanks to my bloggie friend and fellow Masterminder, Sarah (otherwise known as Mar Vista Mom), I have decided that for the entire month of February (give or take a day or two) I’ll be spending all my time and energy working on my website…not my personal blog, not my business blog or consulting clients, but on my community, its blog and the various ongoing contests.

This is big for me. For the first time in a long time I feel more in control of things. For so long now I’d been feeling like I was being pulled in too many different directions and I was never sure what I should be focusing on. Sarah suggested that I allot a certain amount of time (be it days or weeks, or a particular day of the week, or week of the month, or whatever) and focus exclusively on one thing at a time. If something pops up – and I’m sure it will since I’ll be doing my best to ignore whatever I’m not working on – I’ll write it down and get to it later.

This is perfect for me. Why couldn’t I see this myself and figure it out? Probably because I was too caught up in what seemed to be massive feelings of overwhelm (with possibly a hint of fear thrown in for good avoidance). This my friends is why you need a good network of friends!

Of course, it means I’ll need to still created at least 4 posts for my business blog since I don’t want that to sit dormant for too long. But I can do that. In fact, my goal for today is to address the specific things that aren’t related to the site such as our taxes, phone calls, and those previously mentioned blog posts.

Here’s hoping it all works out the way I’m hoping for. Wish me luck!

So what have you been avoiding that you could spend some time focusing on this month?

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Life & Ramblings of an LA Blogger Gal