Unfortunately, there are quite a few mistakes people unknowingly make that could be keeping them from true love….or at least a movie date.

Are you having trouble meeting someone?  Then, take a look at this list and see if you are making one or more of these mistakes. Many of them are things we’ve talked about here before. Basically the point is this – make an effort. Comb your hair, get out of your house, and make eye contact. 

*You expect true love to find it’s way to your door. It’s a wonderful idea, but it’s probably never going to happen. Get out of your house.  Go shopping. Join a club. Arrange to meet some friends. 

*When you do go out, don’t travel with a crowd. It’s easier to approach someone if there’s less chance of public embarrassment in front of a group. 

*You are shy. Get over it. I bet that if I took a poll I’d find that more than half the women I ask would identify themselves as shy. It’s not fun to approach a stranger. Taking a chance is terrifying, but what do you have to lose? 

*You favor comfort and the natural look…at all times. Make an effort. It’s so simple, but when you look your best, you actually feel better.

*You live by The Rules. Take a chance. Be bold. If it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out.  Failure is a temporary thing. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and get back in the game.

Meeting people, so much of it comes down to chance and circumstance. It’s up to you to allow yourself the opportunity to take advantage of both.

Image credit: Michelle Smith

Post from: Blisstree

Still Single?

More and more companies are utilizing social media like Twitter and Facebook to connect to their customers in interesting and innovative ways. I look forward to more companies interacting with consumers in fun ways. Hopefully more contests, and discounts or giveaways.

From Kim Klosterman, CEO of Klosterman Baking Company:
“We’re excited to be increasing our online presence with this unique contest. It presents an incredible opportunity to connect more directly with consumers, and it does so in a fun and enjoyable way. We look forward to finding more creative ways to interact with consumers using social media like Twitter and Facebook.”

You can check out the Klosterman Bread website for more information.

Image via sxc.hu

Post from: Blisstree

Will Tweet For Bread

The five-year-old dog was taken by the coyote while Jessica watched, unable to do anything. Daisy was a gift from Jessica’s ex-husband, Nick Lachey, and traveled frequently with the singer.

She posted to her Twitter about the incident: “My heart is broken because a coyote took my precious Daisy right in front of our eyes. HORROR! We are searching. Hoping. Please help!” And though she’s been told it’s a lost cause, she comments “Still holding out hope despite the a–holes that say is it a dumb thing to do,” and “Daisy is my baby…why would I stop searching? I’m a mom.”

She’s put up signs around Los Angeles, and even posted to websites like FindToto.com hoping that anyone has seen Daisy.

As heartbreaking as it is, I’m afraid I’d be one of those thinking this would be a lost cause by now. Though it’s not uncommon for dogs to get away from attackers, it’s probably not very likely in this case, since Daisy was such a small dog. I do admit that as irrational as it may be, this is one of my worst fears, especially being in the desert with small dogs where the occasional hawk can be seen swooping around.

[image: zuma press]

Post from: Blisstree

Jessica Simpson Holds Out Hope for Daisy

Twitter was apparently hacked into on Thursday morning. It said it was, “defending against a denial-of-service attack” which prevented Twitter traffic from getting through to the main site. It’s scary to note that a service we all use so much (and by “we all” I mean corporations, athletes, bloggers, and everyone in between) can become derailed so much by a hacker attack.

One source says that Twitter had “20.1 million unique visitors in the United States in June, some 34 times the 593,000 a year earlier.” That incredible growth is bound to make things a little shaky.

Will Twitter be here for good? Who knows? But for now, at least I can Tweet again!

Image: Twitter

Post from: Blisstree

Help, I Can’t Twitter!

In Green Nation Gardening’s case they note that they’ve tweeted up in order to manage, “Sending out frequent updates to customers and fellow Twitter followers including up to the minute price changes, new product listings and select articles featured on the E-commerce site.”

You can learn about current gardening news and trends, organic gardening tips, garden shop sales, follow the ever ongoing saga of the White House garden, and more all with Twitter. So, once you sign up, how can you make the most of your green thumb with Twitter? Follow some good gardening tweets of course. Such as..

• Linetteg – this is my prejudice follow suggestion. Linette is a personal pal, and she’s not all about gardening, but healthy gardening is one of her major passions. She write one of my fave gardening blogs, Mother Earth’s Garden, and so her tweets, as you may guess contain plenty of tips.
• YouGrowGirl – this tweeter heads up the awesome (and lovely) You Grow Girl blog.
• FarmersAlmanac – yup the original.
• TreesandShrubs – writes for Trees and Shrubs for About.com and tweets often about gardening.
• GardenLiving – mama, blogger, gardener! Grows organic and with the kiddos.
  
• Liz4Flowers – newer tweeter offering pretty little garden tweets and links.
• FarmAid – keep up with the farm news.
• HerbCompanion – they recently jumped on board the Twitter train; check them out.

Other nice links for gardening Twitter success:

Gardener Kathy of Cold Climate Gardening, offers her picks in Top Garden Twitterers; I think some of my picks are on her list too – but she’s got lots more to browse.

Find gardening tweets (and more) at Just Tweet It – a directory for all tweets. See the gardening tweets category.

If you like gardening, there’s a good chance you like green too. See my picks for the top green tweets to follow.

In any case, this should be enough to get you started. When looking at tweets to follow, check and see if they’re updating often and if they’re really tweeting gardening topic. It’s no use to follow a tweet named ILOVEGARDENS only to find they mainly tweet about their pet goldfish. Unless, of course, you love goldfish too.

Do you tweet? Which gardening tweets are your faves?

[image via stock.xchng and Twitter graphic via Free Twitter Graphics from Randa Clay Design]

Post from: Blisstree

Can you tweet your way to a greener garden?

Coco Conundrum struggles to free herself from the grasp of Tru!

Rick says we need a family dog. I’m a cat person. I’ve never lived with a dog. Growing up, Rick had dogs. He says every boy should have a dog, and according to him, our son is missing out.

Truman says he doesn’t want a dog until his cats “die and go up to heaven.” He worries dogs would hurt his two cats. Our cats were strays. We’re lucky to actually see them in eyeshot of Truman. They are frightened of him, and yet he adores them. He begs me to catch one so he can hold it. When he does, the cat yowls and threatens to rip him to shreds.

If we got a dog, I would be the primary caregiver. I work from home and would be spending most of the day with the pup. I would have to walk him and feed him and make sure he is potty trained. Since I’m not sure how dogs work, I told Rick I wanted to buy some books and take a class before a dog joined our family. And I gave him a distant deadline – Truman’s 6th birthday. But that deadline is drawing near.

Sweet Little Probie needs a home.

The other day the humane society brought an adorable field-breed golden retriever on Rick’s show. Probie is 13 months old and very mild tempered. And he’s adorable. Rick sent me this TwitPic of him. Over the weekend we went to the shelter and visited Probie. He was very sweet with our little boy and Truman enjoyed playing with him. Since we were about to leave town I suggested we not make any hasty decisions. And so we’re waiting. And waiting. And I suspect someone will snatch up Probie before we are (I am) ready for a dog. Which would probably be a good thing. Still, I’m just not convinced I want a dog. And Truman seems lukewarm.

After a few minutes playing with Probie, Truman’s focus immediately turned to the cats. He was smitten. Unlike our strays back home, the kittens there had been around people since birth. They were rag dolls in my son’s arms. One even purred as he slug it around.

Rick rolled his eyes. He says it’s beginning to look like we may end up with another cat rather than a new dog. I think two cats are plenty for this household. Truman says he wants a kitten. And a lizard and a bluebird and a tree snake and a fish and a mouse.

We’ve got about six months before Truman’s birthday. I’m just not sure… What do you think? Can I grow to love a dog like I love my kitties?

Photo, JWJourney

Post from: Blisstree

Dogs vs. Cats – Which Pet to Get?

Way cool, but I have to wonder what kind of tweets I would have sent out considering I managed to make quite an ass of myself to both the anesthesiologist and my OB. Then again, I was in labor for 30 hours…. Well, too late to wonder about it now.

Would you tweet about your labor?

(You can also follow me on Twitter, but I’m not planning to birth a baby anytime soon … just fyi.)

Photo, “Twitter Map” by Boris Veldhuijzenvan

Post from: Blisstree

Would You Tweet During Labor?

“Twibes” are online groups who communicate through Twitter.  You can search through thousands of different twibes to find the one (or ones) that will fit your interests the best.  Twibes can be a fun way to connect with other crafters with the same interests, make business connections or find inspiration.

Do you have your own craft blog?  Then check out the CraftBlogs twibe.

Sell on Etsy?  There’s a twibe for that…

Quilters have their own spot on Twitter as well.

The sewing twibe also has a Flickr group, so you can share photos.

image: Stock.xchg

Post from: Blisstree

Are You a Crafty Twitterer?

Old School Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya from Real Cajun by Donald Link

I think cool, rainy, lazy Sundays call for slow-cooked and fussy meals. Warm, sunny days, of course, demand something grilled. And once Pepper Place farmers market opens here, we’ll have locally grown fresh vegetables all weekend long. (Last year I did a Summer Soup Series with a new vegetable soup each week, like minestrone and gazpacho and a fabulous smoked onion soup. I might have to revive the soup series again this summer.)

3 1/2 hours later - the finished product!

I enjoy making dinner for the family every night. Rick will sometimes take over some or all of the duties. And Truman likes to help, too. But for the most part, I enjoy the boys sitting close and coloring world flags while I chop, sauté, stuff or baste. Rick and I were both raised in homes where our parents actually cooked dinner as opposed to slapping frozen fish sticks on a baking sheet or picking up a sack full of McDonald’s. (Not that they didn’t do that from time to time.) I am still amazed at how many parents dread making dinner. To me, food is art and creating new ways to release its flavors is an expression of love. To share it with others, like love itself, makes it even more meaningful.

NPR food commentator Bonny Wolf said in a recent story that our country’s recession is making home cooking more popular again. “But it won’t be exactly like your grandma’s. There will be slightly more sophisticated twists — artisan cheese mixed in with your mashed potatoes. And things will probably be healthier — less butter, more vegetables,” she said. “This may also bring back, the trend-spotters say, the family dinner, which has been a victim of two-income families and after-school activities for the last few years.”

Looks like for once in my life I’m riding the crest of a trend!

Source: NPR
Photos, JWJourney

Post from: Blisstree

Recession Revives Family Dinner Trend

I’ll endeavour to follow you too, of course! I love reading about other Moms’ experience and Twitter is a great platform for it (in my humble opinion of course

Some of my favourite Mom Tweeps include:

@Dooce – obviously Brilliant, brilliant blogger! Irreverent. Love her!

@girlstoys – fellow Christchurch-based mother. Love Ghada’s updates on her little kiddo and the online biz she runs Girls Toys. Girls Toys is a lifestyle blog for discerning mums who appreciate good design, function and technology.

@thriftymommy – lots of tips for thrifting. A fellow Bliss Tree blogger. Her site is at Thrifty Mommy.

@momlogic – love her ‘real mom’ stories momlogic has got about 30,000+ followers….wowza!

@WAHMRevolution – lots of tweets on work opportunities for Moms. Always interesting the jobs she’s listing!

@plumkeeper – currently sponsoring a contest for moms who tweet, ‘Moms Tweet the Darndest Things About Their Kids’.

@momof3crazykids – love how she’s obsessed about home cooking or lack thereof. Love her humour!

@FrugalWahms – another frugal mother. FrugalWahms has got her own blog where she writes about frugal living tips!

@DotMoms – provides daily news and information for parents. Quite serious topics here like diseases, illness and such!

I’ll feature more parent tweeps in my next update!

See you at Twitterland!

Post from: Blisstree

Are you Tweeting Parents?