On Saturday, I spent an amazing night with my favorite Indy bloggers and the Indiana Fever. It was Girls’ Night Out for us, but it happened to be Family Night for the Fever.
Each Saturday night home game features low ticket prices, a free t-shirt, free food, and tons of fun …read more
Family Fun Night with Fever Basketball
June 4, 2012 at 7:43 pm
Family Fun Night with the Tribe
May 25, 2012 at 2:09 pm
We spend a lot of time at the ball park these days!
With two girls in softball, we have practice 4 nights per week. Then, they each have 1-2 games per week. The tournament is coming up in a few weeks, and we’ll be at the ball park every day …read more
My True Resolutions for 2012
January 11, 2012 at 4:16 pm
Thanks to Trop50 for sponsoring this post on my New Year’s resolutions as part of their Trop5 True Resolutions project. Trop50 juice beverage contains 50 percent less sugar and calories, and no artificial sweeteners. Which made our New Year’s Day mimosas even better!
I’ve never been one to make normal New …read more
My True Resolutions for 2012
January 11, 2012 at 4:16 pm
Thanks to Trop50 for sponsoring this post on my New Year’s resolutions as part of their Trop5 True Resolutions project. Trop50 juice beverage contains 50 percent less sugar and calories, and no artificial sweeteners. Which made our New Year’s Day mimosas even better!
I’ve never been one to make normal New …read more
We like to DANCE!
December 21, 2011 at 4:31 am
The IndyGeek girls put Yo Gabba Gabba aside for a night, and tried our hands at Abba instead. With hits like Mamma Mia and Dancing Queen, we were ready for a night of disco, thanks to Ubisoft’s latest Wii dance game, ABBA You Can Dance.
And, why not go all …read more
When Online Friends Become Real Friends
October 14, 2011 at 3:25 pm
Earlier this year, I hosted one of those “Mom Parties” for a business. I was asked to invite my friends and told that they didn’t need to be bloggers.
Except, all my friends are bloggers.
In fairness, the only reason that they’re all bloggers is because I made <a target=_self href="http://fairytalemom.com/" …read more
The Legacy of Ford
When I first received the invitation to Ford’s Green Technology event at NAIAS, I just set it aside—I’m not really a car person, I won’t be in the market for a car for quite some time and I’m not exactly the right demographic for an international auto show.
Then, the Clever Girls reached out to assure me I didn’t need to be a car person, they weren’t trying to sell me anything and I am exactly who they wanted to reach. And, so I went.
Cat & Fake Scott Monty
It was an amazing experience on so many different levels. How can you not love a week that begins with a hug from a bad kitty? Who wouldn’t enjoy 2 days with a blow-up doll? Uh, wait. Maybe I should backup a little. Because there were cars, too. I promise.
(Dear Hubby, This was a very important business trip. Honest. Love, Me.)
This is the Vertrek—she’s new, and when Serenity is through, I want one. They’ll still be making it—I’m sure of it. That’s one of the things I picked up on in my time with Ford. They don’t just make cars. They build brands that last.
How long as the F150 been the pickup truck to own? I remember the Explorer (2011 Truck of the Year, props) from when SUVs first entered the scene. And, the Mustang has been the Official Car of the Midlife Crisis for as long as I can remember.
Personally, I would give my left eye to drive a T-Bird—and, not just because it’s nearly useless anyway.
My point is, Ford’s cars will be around awhile. The two cars we drive now, both less than 10 years old (and made by a competitor) no longer exist. The models came and went faster than we could pay off the car loans. But, people get attached to their vehicles—you drive them for so long, they become a part of you. And, when they die their last death, so many people just want what they had before.
I think Ford gets that—they understand it’s not just about the cars. It’s about the people. That just really struck me, especially when I put a little thought into the fact that Ford is bringing its electrified technology to not one brand new car created just for the novelty of it, but to 5 existing vehicles in their line that people know & love—including the hot, little Fiesta the teen has officially added to her wishlist. She’d like it in red, please. Not that I blame her—I was super excited to get behind the wheel of one myself.
Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other plans. My test track dreams were halted by snow & ice (but at least I didn’t get stranded like some of my new friends). I do hope for the chance to put their electrified technology to the test one day soon. (Dear Scott Monty, I am just as much fun the 2nd time around. Honest. Love, Me.) In the meantime, I have plenty to process from my 2 days with Ford—at least another couple posts worth of thoughts in my head.
I was invited to participate in this program by Clever Girls Collective, Inc. in partnership with Ford and Ogilvy PR. Ford Motor Company paid for my travel and accommodations at the 2-day Driving Green Technology event, I was not compensated in any other manner for my time. My opinions posted here are my own.
5 Awesome Tools to Make Blogging Easier
One of the things I hear most frequently when people find out I not only have multiple blogs (8 at time of writing) but manage them all with 3 children at home & no daycare is, “How do you find the time?” My answer is always productivity & cheats. Also, my house is a wreck, so I save a lot of time not cleaning.
Of course, I’m probably more excited than most for back to school time. That’s really going to help, but I’m always on the lookout for ways to make life easier. Here are a few of my latest discoveries for blogging quickly & easily:
- Verizon MiFi—this is going on my list of “things I want to pay for as soon as our budget looks better” for sure! Verizon sent me this cute, little card to take to BlogHer earlier this month. And, had to pry it out of my hands at the end of BlogIndiana last week. I had no idea what it was, but they were looking to send a few on the road to New York—and I took that quite literally! We enjoyed road trip wifi, blogging on the long drive.
Basically, it becomes a wifi hotspot anywhere Verizon covers. It was spotty in the middle of nowhere, PA but worked well for me most of the time. You can even connect up to 5 wireless devices so my roommates, carpool buddies & fellow conference attendees had the luxury of free wifi. I desperately want one for everyday use—I’d love to work from the park or pool while the kids play. - Shortkeys: Robby Slaughter exploded a few minds when he showcased how quickly & easily you can insert common phrases & links with text replacers. A few days later, I stumbled on someone else singing the praises of shortkeys. So, I downloaded the free trial—but I’m already considering the full software. It’s going to be perfect for quickly calling up the text for things I frequently type (like html for the links to my various sites!).
- Automatic SEO Links: This WordPress plugin is pretty similar to the text replacer idea, but it does it automatically (hence, the name) with a link. Choose your keywords, set the link and never think about it again. For example, when anyone on Team Inexpensively includes the phrase “grocery lists” in their post, it will automatically publish with a link to our grocery lists.
- Lists & Drafts: This one isn’t so much a tool as a technique, but it works well for me. I keep a running list of blog posts as the ideas occur. Then, when I have time set aside to blog, I pick one or two, and get started. Recently, I have started to just enter the topic idea as a draft so it’s attached to the correct blog. If I come up with ideas on a post, I bullet point them in to use as idea or paragraph starters when it’s time to write.
- Voice Recorder: I have to admit I feel like a total douche when I pull out my phone to record notes, but it’s effective! I also have to admit that I don’t always remember to go back & listen, but often the act of saying it out loud burns the thought into my brain. I’ve also been known to jot notes the back of receipts, junk mail envelopes or school notes—but I’m much less likely to lose my iPhone.
Slaughter Development’s classes always send me home with more productivity tips & tools than I can ever manage to implement. Robby Slaughter’s BlogIndiana session was no different & much of this list is straight from his presentation. While I might not be able to write a full blog post in under 5 minutes, I’m getting pretty good at cranking out posts in what little free time I can squeeze out of my day.
What tools or techniques do you use to save time?
