Last week I finished two books I really enjoyed, Bloodroot by Amy Greene and Holly's Inbox by Holly Denham. Bloodroot only took me three days to finish. I heard about it the books section of one of my magazines. I loved it! I don't know why I'm fascinated with stories whose characters have 'the touch' or some other mystical power. Same with books set in the south (location was part of the reason I loved The Help, too). This book has childhood friendships, familial loyalty and a little bit of tragedy. It's set in Appalachia and spans almost 50 years. I was sucked in within the first few pages. 

Holly's Inbox is set in Britain. Every book that came out after Bridget Jone's has had some type of comparison. This is one is called Bridget Jones meets technology. The story is told entirely through emails between Holly, her friends, her family and co-workers. It's not a small book at 672 pages but since it's not all text, it reads really fast. It's cute and funny just as chick lit should be. I have the sequel but am only about 20 pages in. Interesting side note, Holly Denham is the character's name. The author is actually a man. 

Both these books would be good beach reads.

Invitation to the Souplantation Test Kitchen | Things That Pop Up in My Email

My Dad took me to Souplantation for the first time. I was in college. My brother and I were visiting him for the weekend and he suggested it. We went and I was in heaven. Any restaurant that has a huge spread of carbs that I can re-fill at will is my kind of place! Back then, the wait staff would bring around brown paper bags at closing and let patrons take home the muffins left at the bar. 

Anytime we went to visit my dad after that, we'd always ask for Souplantation and wait until just before closing to go. One time, we went the night before we were to leave on a road trip to Vegas. My brother and I made a bee line for the muffin bar and stuffed those bags as full as we could. We ate muffins all the way to Vegas and back.

One semester in college, I scheduled a three hour break in my Tuesday, Thursday classes. I'd take my books to Souplantation right before the pricing changed from lunch to dinner and I'd study for hours grazing on sourdough, pasta and fro yo. Looking back, the fact that I gained a ton of weight should not have come as any surprise. But, I did get good grades that semester.

Fast forward to Tyler's toddlerhood. We decided to take him to Souplantation to see what kind of veggies he'd like. It was the perfect place to spread a lot of little piles of food in front of him and let him go to town. Today, when I tell him he used to happily and willingly eat beets, he looks at me as though I've grown an extra limb. Souplantation is still his favorite restaurant. 

To this day his plate looks almost the same as it did when he was little: noodles, kidney beans, peas, corn, shredded cheese, pizza foccacia, sourdough and blueberry muffins. Lather, rinse and repeat. The last time we went to dinner, he did express slight interest in my baked potato with bacon, cheese and chicken* but I'm not holding my breath.

Where's all this going? Well, it's just a lot of backstory to help you understand why I was so psyched when I got an invitation to meet some of the execs from Souplantation a few weeks ago. All week leading up to the event, Tyler kept telling me how lucky I was. "You're spending three whole days there? You're so lucky! I wish I was going, too. Can you bring me back some noodles?"

I've said before that one of the best things about blogging has been getting to meet to execs from companies I admire and having them listen to our ideas, share their visions and ask if there are ways we can help them achieve them. I made a few suggestions as to how they could honor our men and women in uniform and make school fundraising a little easier. Add to that one of the contacts I made has asked for my help with their social media and it was a win all the way around. 

People often ask me what the benefit is to attending a blogging event. I never know what I'm going to get out of an event until I go. I have no idea if I'll write about events I attend until they're over and I can find a way to weave something personal in that will (hopefully) make it interesting for you to read about. 

In this case, how could I pass up the opportunity to meet the people behind a company I've loved since I was a teenager?

What about you? What do you get out of blogging events? Is there a company or brand you'd love the opportunity to get to meet with?

*They'll probably get mad at me for telling you this, but instead of buying the side of chicken meat at the salad bar, I take some of the chunks out the chicken noodle soup. 

This is not a compensated post though Souplantation fed me well for the three days of the event. Caryn of Rockin' Mama has a little bit of video of the event and I have a few pictures on Flickr.

Neglected Blog, But More Family Time

Hello! I was gong to apologize for not being around but I changed my mind. I wouldn't have anything to blog about if I didn't step away from the screen every once in awhile, right?

My Gramma was here visiting. She's set to head back to the midwest soon and wanted to spend a little more time with Tyler. Gramma spends the winter at my mom's, arriving in early November and leaving in February. This year's trip has been a rough one for her. Two friends and her brother died while she was here. My mom said after she got back from the east coast for her brother's funeral, she seemed to have lost a lot of her usual energy and vitality. I think it was good for her to be with her Sweetie Pie (me) and Grandbaby.

Gramma and Tyler are totally in love with each other. They have such a great relationship. That they've been able to spend so much time together over the years is something I'm happy to be able to have done for him. Some of my happiest childhood memories are of time spent with my grandparents. 

We didn't do a whole lot while she was here, but that's the cool thing about Gramma. We don't have to. We shopped, she showed me how to make chicken and dumplings and we all played Wii. My Gramma is a lot more competitive than I remember and a pretty good bowler too. We took her Tyler's hockey practice and she said 'woops!' every time one of the kids fell, which was often. And we laughed. A lot.

We've been teasing Gramma about her selective hearing. We say one thing, but she hears something totally different. The resulting conversations have often been hilarious. Example:

Me: Gramma, do you want an Oreo?

Gramma: Sure, thank you. (as she takes the whole sleeve) Where did you get these Oreos in a sleeve? Don't they usually come in a package?

Me: I got the Family Size box at Target.

G: You don't want to tell me? Why not?

Me: What?!

Gramma: Why don't you want to tell me where you got the Oreos?

Me: I said I got them at Target.

Gramma: Oh. I thought you said you didn't want to tell me.

Me: Those two sound nothing alike!

Gramma: You're right, I guess they don't. Want an Oreo? 

Oh my gosh, we were hysterical. Reading it, it doesn't seem very funny. I guess it was one of those, 'you had to be there' moments. 

Anyhoo, that's where I've been. I'm staring down a whole week's worth of To Do's but it was totally worth it. My Gramma makes me happy. Hopefully I'll be back to regular (maybe semi regular) posting next week. Happy Friday!

O Magazine $5 | Mamapedia Deal

I love it when magazine subscriptions drop down like this! My current subscription total is up to 16. 18 if the freebies I found this week go through. What can I say, I'm addicted! 

Mamapedia is another site offering daily deals (current subscriptions to those sites about the same as my magazines!). One of their current Sweet Deals is a one-year subscription to O Magazine for $10. Code OPRAH5 should take $5 off at checkout (please let me know if the code isn't working). The deal is on the right sidebar.

I definitely want to keep up with this subscription since her show is ending. I like OWN but not as much as The Oprah Show. Are you watching OWN? What do you think so far?

*Offer fine print: Valid for 1-year subscription only. Valid for new subscriptions and renewals. Limit (1) per household. May purchase as gifts. Offer valid Feb 11-14, 2011 only. Will automatically receive subscription in 4-6 weeks after order placed. Affiliate link.

Print Grocery Coupons at Cheap Sally: Frugal Friday

Yesterday I Skyped with Steph and one of the many things we talked about was budgeting and saving money. I told her continuing to trim our grocery budget is a big priority for me. One thing that has helped me the most is printing grocery coupons. 

Many sites will issue one or two new coupons throughout the month, but for the most part, printable coupon sites are re-set on the first day of month. I've bookmarked all the sites I go to and I try to hit them all within the first two days of the month. If I wait too long, many of the good coupons hit their print limits. 

Earlier this week I got an email from a local PR firm about a new site for coupons. Since I hadn't heard of it before I thought I'd share in case you haven't either. Having access to multiple sites for printable grocery coupons is the best way to get duplicates of really high value coupons or for items you buy all the time. 

The coupons on Cheap Sally are powered by Coupons.com which is my favorite site (look under the more savings tab). Cheap Sally also has coupon codes for online shopping, discounted gift cards and event tickets. I'll keep those things in mind but I know for me, the grocery coupons will be the most valuable part of the site. 

What site do you visit most for printable coupons? 

Peekaboo! I See You! Wordless Wednesday

Oprah Let Me Down

For the past few weeks I've been juggling two books. One was our December/January book club selection and the other just because. Both are really meaty books, 600+ pages. Both are on Oprah's book lists. Both of them suck! 

I usually stick with a book. No matter how awful it is, I'll keep plugging away, especially if the book is something tons of other people talk about and love. Well, not this time. I waved the white book mark, threw in the proverbial towel. I took Freedom back to the library yesterday after about 250 pages. 

I didn't like the characters. I didn't like Franzen's writing style. I didn't care about the story. It was a giant snooze. I feel like a quitter but I have about 50 books in my 'to be read' and most of them look so good. I'd walk past them all on my way to bed knowing that one of them was going to knock my socks off and then open Freedom. I couldn't take it anymore. 

Then there's Wally Lamb's I Know This Much is True. I'm about 360 pages into it. I was really looking forward to it because both Deb and Mary loved it. But it's soooooo depressing! Not that depressing is bad. I've read books with heavy themes before and still enjoyed them. But this? Whoa.

We already had our book club meeting so I know the ending. This one I'm going to stick with (I think) but only because I want to see how certain plot lines play out. I will say I enjoy the writing in this book much better than Freedom. I haven't read too may of Oprah's book club selections but I've liked all the titles I've read. Until now.

What books have you waved the white book mark on? Have you read Freedom or I Know This Much is True? What did you think?

Amazon Valentine Playlist Freebie

photo © 2009 Beverly | more info (via: Wylio)

Amazon has another great freebie up. Surprise your sweetie with free music for Valentine's Day. The free playlist has 14 songs. You can also get a $2 discount when you send MP3's as gifts with code VDAYMP3S.

One of the February MP3 specials is 100 albums priced at $5 like Lady Antebellum, Norah Jones, Sara Bareilles and Train. With the code, these would make a super cheap Valentine's Day gift.

(Code and free playlist end on Valentine's Day, affiliate links)

Raising Kids Who Read: Parents Don't Give Up!

I've heard some parents say they can't get their kids to read or that their kids don't like reading. To that I say, why not try reading with them? I just had a whole classroom full of kids, sitting quietly at their desks, hanging onto my every word. I wonder how many of those kids' parents, the ones who think their children don't like books, would be surprised to see their child so engaged?

photo © 2008 Kenny Louie | more info (via: Wylio)

My son's teacher has made reading a priority in her classroom and I love it. She has a giant class library, the kids have assigned reading time and she's asked parents to volunteer to be Mystery Reader. That's what I did this afternoon. We parents give her five clues going from generic to specific that the kids use to guess who the Reader might be. She starts the clues on Monday and gives one a day. It keeps the kids excited, gives them something to look forward to and makes reading fun, the way it should be. 

It's true there's a lot more to distract kids than when we were younger, but reading is such a gift! I can't imagine not making as much of an effort as possible to give that gift to my child. The kids in Tyler's class today loved being read to! I took The Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle Treasury with me and read the Won't Pick Up Toys Cure. The kids laughed and I asked them questions.

When I finished the story they clapped and asked if I would come back again. "We love it when you're Mystery Reader!" "Will you bring Mrs. Piggle Wiggle again?" Talk about feeling like a rockstar! To paraphrase the Grinch, my heart grew three sizes. And when one of Tyler's classmates hugged me on my way out? It totally burst. 

It makes me sad to think that, for some of those kids, the classroom might be their only exposure to be reading. Especially since they so obviously enjoy Mystery Reader Fridays. I'm sure I'll get a little flack for saying this, but I wonder how many parents who feel their kids aren't readers just gave up too soon?

There are so many options for reading besides 'traditional' books like digital books and ereaders, that there's plenty of opportunity to expose kids to reading. Maybe through these more 'techy' methods, there will be an increase in kids who learn to love reading. At least I hope so.

Are you kid readers? Do you have advice for parents who want their kids to read more?

Barnes & Noble $20 GC for $10 | Hot Groupon Deal

Fellow readers, you'll want to jump on this. Groupon has a great deal for a $20 Barnes and Noble gift card for only $10! Holla!

If you don't have an account yet, sign up for one. The deal is listed under Chicago but it's for everyone. The fine print:

• Expires Apr 10, 2011
• Limit 1/person. Limit 1/trans. Valid in-store or online. Valid on sale items. Groupon value reduces by $10 on 4/11, except where prohibited.

The deal will be up on the site through Monday but could sell out before then. Happy reading!

*Yes, these are affiliate links

My Ode to Coffee {Smart and Final Ambience Giveaway}

This sponsored post and giveaway are inspired by my sampling of the new Ambiance line of coffee by Smart and Final. *Contest is now Closed - Congrats to #27, Kalea!*

"Over second and third cups flow matters of high finance, high state, common gossip and low comedy. Coffee is a social binder, a warmer of tongues, a soberer of minds, a stimulant of wit, a foiler of sleep if you want it so. From roadside mugs to the classic demi-tasse, it is the perfect democrat."            ~Author Unknown

I'm sure you're all dying to know how I feel about coffee. You could skip straight to the bottom for the gift card giveaway, but you'd be missing out on a chance to get to know me better!

I didn't start drinking coffee until I was in college. I've always liked the smell of the beans and a fresh brewed pot, but before I went away to school I couldn't take the taste. Even when I started drinking it, it wasn't really because I wanted a cup of coffee. It started, like most people I knew, as a tool for cram sessions or a way to wake up after a long night of partying, er, studying.

© 2013 Asher Isbrucker, Flickr | CC-BY | via Wylio

Before I learned to appreciate the taste and recognize a bad cup of coffee, I drank mine like Clarence, a character in one of the best movies ever made.* "It's not a good cup of coffee unless the spoon stands up." The sugar to liquid ratio was totally skewed toward sugar. My teeth feel gritty just thinking about it.

I've become a bit of a coffee snob in my old age. We prefer to grind our own beans, only drink flavored coffee and always have an assortment of creamers and half and half in the fridge. Also? I don't mix flavors. If my coffee flavor is creme brulee, the creamer has to be, too. French Vanilla and Hazelnut do not go together and never shall the two mix in my mug.

Speaking of mugs, I have two favorites. There's my everyday mug that I went to several Starbucks to find, and my Copco travel mug. I don't let anyone use them so don't even ask.

© 2011 LenDog64, Flickr | CC-BY-ND | via Wylio

Does anyone remember that TV show from the early '90's Grace Under Fire? In one episode, Grace's neighbor, Nadine, got into a fight with her husband Wade over how she takes her coffee. "Doesn't he know I like my coffee taupe?!" That's me. I can't drink my coffee unless it's a certain shade of taupe.

I also have pretty specific tastes when I go out for coffee. Most people stop offering to go on a coffee run when I'm around because I will hand you my drink order on a Post It note. Yes, I am that person.

I may have gotten a late start, but now coffee is a big part of my life. I usually start my day with it. I've had meetings over a cup. I've made new friends, reconnected with old friends, caught up on life, laughed, had serious discussions and read great books with a cup of coffee nearby.

I love my coffee. I need my coffee. I crave coffee. I have driven out of my way for coffee. Coffee!!!!!!

Ahem.

I've told you my coffee quirks, now you tell me yours. I have a pretty cool prize up for grabs. Smart and Final wants you to get addicted to enjoy their new Ambiance coffee. 

You'll get the same gift basket I was given with a sampling of their 6 flavors AND a $150 gift card. $150 goes a long way at Smart and Final (more on that later). So how do you win? Easy:

Prize: One winner will receive an Ambiance coffee product gift basket and $150 Smart & Final gift card.

Rules/ways to enter:

1. Comment here with your favorite coffee moment, quirk or your beverage of choice.

2. You can earn extra entries for tweeting about this giveaway and using the #MyAmbianceMoment hashtag. Leave a comment with a link to your daily tweet (one tweet/extra entry per day).

3. Post the contest on Facebook and leave a link.

4. You don't have to follow me, friend me or Smart and Final to win. There are 14 other bloggers doing the same giveaway and all links are being Tweeted and posted on the Smart and Final Facebook page.

Sample text: "Enter to win an Ambiance Coffee gift pack and $150 gift card from @smartfinal http://bit.ly/SFSmartiesAmbience #MyAmbianceMoment Pls RT!"

5. You know the drill, no contact info, no entry.

6. I'll post the winner here and on Twitter after I've used Random.org.

7. Winner has 24 hours to respond or I'll choose another.

Deadline: Tuesday February 8th, midnight PST.

Good luck!

*If you can tell me what movie that line is from you'll be my new BFF.

My Kid Told a Racist Joke: Advice Needed

I'm so upset right now I don't know what to do. Tyler got in the car after school saying he had a joke to tell me.

"An American, a Canadian and a Mexican get on a plane."

As soon as he got the words out I bristled. I knew where he was going and I wasn't happy. I'd not heard the joke before but there's no way a joke that starts out like that is going to be good.

He finished as we pulled into the driveway. I put the car in park and, I'll admit, I lit into him a bit. I kept my voice calm but he could tell I was very angry. I told him jokes like that are not OK, not appropriate and he's never to repeat it.

I asked him to substitute a white person, black person and an Asian in the joke. Was it still funny? Did he still think it was OK to repeat?

I asked him if he'd heard the words racist or racism. He hadn't so I explained their definitions. I talked about Columbus, slavery and immigration. I didn't get too deep into those issues since he's only 8, but the examples I used from TV we've watched were things he could relate to and understand.

I told him what I was most angry about, that a joke like that is making its way around the playground. I told him I was angry at the situation, not at him. He told me which friend he heard the joke from. It's a little boy he had a playdate with a few weeks ago. Tyler said the boy heard the joke from someone else. I believe him. I don't think he's devious enough to make that up on the spot to protect his friend.

My dilemma is, should I call this boys mother and tell her what her son is saying? I know that, for the boys, the joke was funny because someone gets punched in the face, not because of its undertones. As kids they just hear the slapstick. But it's something I would want to know about. How do I even begin a conversation like that?

If someone you only met once called you with this information, how would you take it? I want to be clear that I'm not accusing her son of being a racist, merely passing on the information. I don't want to put any strain on the boys' friendship. But, I hate to think of the (blond haired, light eyed) boy telling the joke again around someone some of the older kids and having one of them call him out. I hope I'd be opening the door for Tyler's friend and his parents to have a conversation about acceptance. What if it backfires?

Would you call the other mom? Has another parent ever called you with something like this? Have you ever made a phone call like this? HELP!

Our Hockey Player: Wordless Wednesday

Standing Out in A Crowd

Driving to meet some friends this morning I had a moment that is kind of common (for me anyway) in my suburban part of San Diego. A group of ladies were out for some exercise. I drove past and said to myself, "oh wow, black people!" And what's more, they were faces I haven't seen around town before.

There is one black woman I see quite often in my area between 8-9am. She must walk the same route because I can almost draw an 'X' on the sidewalk where our paths cross. She was not part of the group I saw this morning, which makes it all the more intriguing. Where do they live? How long have they been here that I haven't seen them before? When you're uncommon, it's easy to spot someone else who looks like you.

Since I started going to school I've almost always been the only black face in the class and one of few in the school. It got better in junior high and high school. College was an eye opener. But there are times when being a minority within a minority can be a little lonely.

Make no mistake, I'm not feeling sorry for myself. I'm happy with the decision to move here. It reminds me a lot of where we moved when my family left Chicago. I still love that area and, as a parent, I'm happy I can give Tyler the same type of suburban experience I had growing up. But, I'd be lying if I said I didn't wonder how, if at all, our lives would be different if we lived somewhere else.

I didn't pull over and introduce myself this morning. I would have come off like a lunatic. But, if the women are new to the area, perhaps over time we'll run into each other more and more often and I'll be out walking with them one day, too.

Shoe Shopping: Fashion Haul Friday

I've talked about my shopping trips before but not too often on video. I've resolved to do more vlogging this year. I like to talk and hate to type. I should have started vlogging from the get-go. 

This video is purely self promotional*. I'm so in love with the shoes I bought recently and they were such amazing deals I couldn't help myself. But, I do offer a bit of shopping wisdom too, so maybe it's only 90% self promotion. Happy Friday!




*At least I'm honest, LOL!

2011 Reading List

I'm not always good at updating these lists, but for the most part they're pretty complete. I have lists for 2008, 2009 and 2010.

Holly's Inbox and Holly's Inbox: Scandal in the City - (Holly Denham) Both of these are true chick lit. They are told entirely through the email exchanges between Holly, her friends and family. Every book set in Britain is compared to Bridget Jones in some way and this series is no exception. But I liked them both and they're totally quick reads.

Bloodroot - (Amy Greene) This was great! I don't know where I get my fascination with books set in the South. The characters are great and the setting is perfect.

I wrote more about Denham and Greene's books here.

Brava, Valentine - (Adriana Trigiani) I've said before how much I love her books and this was no exception. Just as good, if not better, than Very Valentine.

The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay - (Suzanne Collins) Holy wow, I loved this series! There are very few books I will race out and buy in hardback but I did for the second two books. I read all three within a week. Now I'm getting caught up in all the movie news too. I can't wait until next year when it comes out! The series is marketed young adult but, like Harry Potter, adults are reading it too. So good!

The Kitchen House Another love. It's hard reading books about slavery and the south but it's enlightening as well. This one definitely had parts that were hard to read, but the story wouldn't ring true if those elements were left out. I heard criticism of The Help because it didn't "go there." The Kitchen House definitely does. This was for book club.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - (Rebecca Skloot) I almost don't know what to say other than I loved it. I can't call it a 'story' because it's all fact. Skloot does an excellent job telling the Lacks family history, what happened to Henrietta and how Henrietta's cancer cells have become one of the most important aspects of modern medicine. It's a fascinating read.

While I'm Falling The Rest of Her Life- (Laura Moriarty) The first book I read by Moriarty was The Center of Everything. I love her writing style. Some of her sentences are so beautiful. I finished Falling and went straight to the library for Life. I rarely read an author back to back unless I'm totally captivated. Both these books are really good.

Star Island - (Carl Hiaasen) I really like his books. His agenda is pretty obvious (conservation, protecting wildlife) but it's such a subplot it's not obnoxious. His books are funny and silly. This one is about an actress who is hired as a stand in for a pop star. There's kidnapping and paparazzi. Hiaasen has great one liners. All his books are fast reads.

I love the HBO series True Blood so it seemed obvious I should start reading the books the series is based on. They are just different enough from the series to keep both interesting. In the past two weeks I've read the first three books: Dead Until Dark, Living Dead in Dallas and Club Dead and last night I almost finished Dead to the World. So far I love them all. (Charlaine Harris)

Room - (Emma Donoghue) Oh man, I loved this book! I read it in two days. I had only heard good things about the book and skipped reading a synopsis or review. The way it was written, I had no idea what was happening until it was revealed. Once the twist of the book was revealed, it seemed even more brilliant. I don't want to say too much and spoil it. You won't regret this one.

The rest of the Sookie Stackhouse series - I'm currently reading book 10, Dead in the Family, I have A Touch of Dead in the wings and book 11 on hold at the library. These are the literary equivalent of eye candy.

What She Wants - (Kathy Kelly) So far, all the books I've read from Kelly I have liked and this one followed the same path.

Backseat Saints - (Joshilyn Jackson) Oh how I love Jackson! I've read all of her books and each one was fantastic. She's one of the few authors I recommend to everyone.

A Discovery of Witches - (Deborah Harkness) Wow. I picked this up because I remember seeing a great review in Entertainment Weekly. It did not disappoint. It's a big book, but it was an easy read. If you like historical fiction, this is for you.

I wrote a little more about these three books here. 

I Know This Much is True - (Wally Lamb) ZZZzzzzz. I put this down. I said in my review I might pick it up again to see how some plot lines evolved, but I never did.

Freedom - (Johnathan Franzen) Another dull, boring book. For something that hefty, it was a complete let down.

Lessons in Heartbreak - (Cathy Kelly) I liked this book, but I didn't like the subject matter. Extramarital affairs are a touchy subject. I think Kelly handled it well, but I was angry with the main character for the whole book. Still, it was a good read.

The Secret of Joy - (Melissa Senate) I really liked this. This is the first book of hers I've read. The main character finds out she has a half sister at the same time she starts a new relationship.

Greetings from Somewhere Else - (Monica McInerney) In the same way Cathy Kelly sets her books in Ireland, all of McInerney's books are set in Australia (I hear my friend Tonya's voice when I'm reading them). I liked this book. I've always wanted a sister, so books about the relationship between female siblings interest me. I've read four others of her books and this was just as good.

Bossypants -  (Tina Fey) If I could only use one word to describe this book it would be hysterical. I'm so glad I chose Bossypants as my first audio book. It's read by Fey herself and she does an excellent job. Had I chosen the print version, this would be the book that would have had me spitting coffee out of my nose in Starbucks. I hope she writes more.

A Sign of Things to Come?

Right before New Year's I went to Rubios for takeout. I gave the cashier a $10 gift card. He commented on it and I told him I won it on Twitter. We started talking Twitter vs. Facebook and at one point, I told him that social media is my job. Later on I replayed the conversation and wondered why I phrased it that way. The words just slipped out. I've never referred to blogging as my job before. When people ask what I do, I usually say I'm a SAHM. Sometimes I mention blogging, sometimes not. 

photo © 2010 Nanette Saylor | more info (via: Wylio)

I believe in signs and signals from the universe. I believe some things happen for a reason. I've been thinking a lot about this space, making plans for another and generally wondering what I need to do to 'up my game,' so it's not lost on me that I chose to say those words, out loud, when I'm at such a cross roads. 

Methinks a vision board is in order, pronto.