My Beach

I have been super busy this summer marketing my business, but I wanted to post a quick blog to let you guys know I'm still alive. I haven't been to the beach yet this summer, but if I had been able to go this is where we usually go. It's called the kiddie pool at St. Andrews State Park. I highly recommend it to anyone....that doesn't mind a few SHARKS.






I can't really remember, but I think the sign may say:

Caution

Sharks Past This Point

The Need To OutSource

I've got a headache, plus I'm feeling a bit drained at the moment. However, I'm excited because I just received an e-mail from someone saying she is very interested in writing articles and press releases for my website. She loves to write and is excited about the opportunity to make some extra $$. She also shares my drive and passion for business.

I've been putting off writing press releases and articles since my time is so limited. I could write them myself, but it takes me a while to figure out exactly what I want to say. I would rather spend my time (and I feel more useful) working on other areas of my business. As a result of writing fresh content being one of my weaker strengths, I think outsourcing the task is a smart option for me.

Summer Is Here!

With Memorial Day weekend being the official kick off to summer, I'm looking forward to the next three months. My son finished his first year of preschool last Thursday so we'll be getting used to having him home every day. I'm not sure that it has sunk in that he wouldn't be seeing his classmates for a while. He also won't get to see his little girlfriend, a blonde hair, blue eyed cutie cause she is moving over the summer. So sad.

Business wise, I'm really looking foward to the next few months. I'm in the midst of the busy wedding season and sales are really picking up. I also enrolled in a very intensive program last Thursday that should work wonders for my business. I'll be learning from the pros on how to effectively market and grow my business. The program is pricey to say the least so I'm going to be soaking up as much information as I possibly can.

Fine Tuning My Website

I just had my website reviewed by an authoritative company in the SEO (search engine optimization)market. This review was pretty comprehensive which was very surprising since it was free. I think my head is spinning from all of the information that I received. I have so many ideas of things that I want to do now to promote my website.

Looking at my Google ranking for many of my keywords, I'm delighted to see that I have moved to within the first 4 positions in the search engine return results. I was very happy to see that I'm now appearing in the #1 position in many cases. Now I have to focus on moving closer to one of the first 4 positions for two highly competitive keywords. It will take a lot of hard work, but I can do it.

One of the things my site review said was that I need to get a better Alexa and Technorati rank. I have heard of the websites, but I'm not very familiar with them. Educating myself on how they work is definitely on my list of things to do.

I was also told that I need to write press releases, ezine articles, and more blogs. I've known this fact for a while, but simply haven't had the time to do them. I'm thinking outsourcing may be the way to go. I know some bloggers use PayPerPost to earn extra money. If anyone is interested in writing some short articles and press releases for me then let me know.

I've Been A Very Busy Party (Favor) Girl

It has been way too long since I've posted a blog I know. I have been very busy the last few weeks, filing my income taxes, sales tax, and corporate renewal paperwork, updating my MySpace, and updating as well as marketing my website, CherishedGiftFavors.com. I have also been working my butt off nonstop telling everyone I can think of about my wedding favors, party favors, and personalized gifts for any occasion. Sales have really been picking up for me and wedding season hasn't quite started. Needless to say I am thrilled!!

The last couple of weeks have also been stressful. For the last year I have enjoyed being listed on the first page of Google for my two main keywords. To keep my site looking fresh and more in line with what my competition is doing I decided to move a majority of the content from the top of my home page to beneath my product pictures. I also added some new content (content is king with search engines).

After I did that my home page was more visually appealing to my customers, but Google was not impressed. I kept my number two position for one of my keywords thank God, but Google kicked me to the top of the second page for my main keyword. I put the content I had before back above my product pictures and now I'm back on the first page again. It has taken me about 3 weeks to get back and I'm still lower in the search results than what I was before. Unfortunately, my sales suffered during the time when my website was kicked to the second page.

To attract more business anywhere I can get it , I just ordered signs for my car, post cards, and flyers. I happened to drop by a local bridal/gift boutique a couple of weeks ago to pick up a copy of a magazine that I advertised in and was blessed with the opportunity of meeting the owner. She loved my favors so we began talking. My favors don't really fit into her product line, but she happened to mention that her brides have a very hard time trying to find one the wedding accessories that I carry. I made up some flyers for her and she is going to start referring brides to my website. After I finish this post I will be spending my Saturday night adding the new wedding accessories to my website.

What Do You Use Your Dell For?

Single For The Weekend

Hubby and son are visiting his parents so I'm single for the weekend. I'm trying to make the most of my free time by adding many new wedding and party favors to my website. I've been working hard marketing and tweaking my website, MySpace profile, and my business blog for the last couple of weeks so I'm thrilled to be able to concentrate solely on my business for the next couple of days.

While I was getting my game plan ready for the weekend and eating dinner I started flipping the TV channels to see what was on. I came across a show on TLC called "I Can Make You Thin". Needless to say, the show caught my attention. I really want to lose some weight so I can get back to 110 lbs like I was just before I became pregnant..almost 4 years ago.

The show is about reprogramming your mind regarding the way you think about food. The host asked the audience and the TV viewers to think about a food (or foods) they crave. One(s) they can't resist. Like many people it is sweets for me. He had everybody close their eyes and think about a food that repulsed them. I hate liver and onions. I can't get past the smell of them cooking let alone trying to actually eat the nasty stuff.

After picturing the food in our minds, he asked for us to imagine taking a fork and eating a big plate of it.

While doing this, we are supposed to squeeze our thumb and finger on our left hand while thinking about the smell, the texture, and the taste of the food we hate.

Next he said to imagine the food covered in hair from a barbershop floor. I started feeling uncomfortable at that point.

It gets worse, we were then told to imagine it also covered with spit from a spittoon. OMG! I started gaging and my eyes started watering. With tears streaming down my face, he said to imagine our favorite food covered in the liver, hair, and spit. I almost threw up.

The next step of the exercise was to squeeze our right thumb and finger while thinking of a time in our lives when we were really happy. Perhaps while we were on vacation, at a party with friends, falling in love for the first time, or even enjoying a beautiful day.

The host said from now on when we crave a food that we need to squeeze our fingers on our left hand and think about it covered in something that repulses us. Then we need to squeeze our thumb and finger on our right hand and think about the thing that makes us the happiest.

I'm going to try it this week to see if it works for me. If you want more info on the show check out TLC's website.

I'm Pregnant

As an April Fools' joke, my mom told my grandmother that I'm pregnant. My mom thought it was hysterical. I didn't find the humor in it....at all.

Happy Easter!

glitter-graphics.com


I know I have been MIA for a while. I haven't had a chance to post lately because I've been busy freshening up My Space Profile and Cherished Gifts & Favors. I've added new pictures and lots of new party favors. My MySpace profile is finished for now and I'm hoping to have my website done in a few days.

Taxes have also kept me busy, but I finally took all my info to the accountant Friday so that is a huge weight lifted off of me! I'm thrilled to say the least.

Panama City Gone Corrupt

The problems that Joe Francis has faced here in this good ole' boy town is wrong on so many levels. You may not agree with what he does, but he pissed some people off here and they were out to get him as soon as he arrived in Panama City. Two weeks later they got him.

He and his company were charged with taping 17 year old girls who lied about their age. It was against the law to tape them, but its ok for the state attorney to show the tape to Nightline. Hmmmm.

Of the many things he had to agree to in the plea bargain was to accept his seized car "as is". Interesting. The car looked in mint condition in the police photos. By the judge's comments it doesn't really sound like it is now. Strange, I wonder what could have happened to it?

He is also banned from coming back to the Florida Panhandle for 3 years. That sounds a bit strange too. How did the three years come in to play? Do you think he wants to come back?

Ick!!

Spending my morning trying to clean up grape juice puke from my living room floor. It is not going well. The little one is sick and I'm about to be.

How is everyone else spending their Sunday? Please share, it may be a long day at my house.

Playing For The Crowd

My son, sitting on the bar last Saturday night at Beef O'Brady's. He's already stealing the show at such a young age!...And hanging out in a bar...Like his father. Sports and beer on the weekends. I can see it now, much to my dismay!

Rainy Spring Break 2008

Unfortunately for the Spring Breakers in Panama City Beach the weather is once again rainy. To make for an even better hair day, the wind is blowing like mad.
I think it is pretty ironic that Puddle of Mudd is performing tonight at Club La Vela.

The guys may be happy the weather is turning cold tomorrow because the girls on the beach will be freezing their asses off. Perhaps they will be looking for someone to keep them warm.

Spring Break 2008!

Spring Break 2008 is here! I live in Panama City, Florida and we are well known for Spring Break. I thought PC Beach was trying to get away from the image of drunk high school and college students causing trouble, getting arrested, and killed after jumping from balconies, but I guess not.

As I am driving this morning I hear Club La Vela's radio ad announcing the Spring Break 2008 kick off party this weekend. I could care less. I'm 35 so I'm not really a part of the Spring Break crowd. Plus its still cold as hell here, so there is no way I'm gonna be in a bikini anytime soon.

Anyway, I'm listening to the lady with the sexy English accent (awesome marketing tragedy on La Vela's part) announce who is coming for Spring Break...

She says there will be guests appearances by;

top pop stars,

fashion models,

blah, blah, blah,

Victoria Secret will be doing a run way show (interesting..that is something new this year),

Maxim magazine will be looking for a centerfold model,

The Olly Girls will be making a guest appearance,

blah, blah, blah,

Playboy's The Girls Next Door will be stopping by on their tour,

blah, blah,

OMG! Did I just hear The Girls Next Door?? I love that show! I so want to go!

Hmmm...I might actually enjoy this Spring Break!


Update ~ Bridgette from The Girl's Next Door will be here on my husband's birthday. Happy birthday to me...I mean him.

The Twins Are Here

Jennifer Lopez gave birth to twins this morning. A 5 pound, 7 ounce girl and a 6 pound boy. The US and Latin American rights of the first pictures are going to People and other international rights were sold to OK! magazine. People magazine reportedly paid between 4 to 6 million dollars for the photos.

The money is suppose to go to charity so hopefully a birth of a different kind will take place in giving some needy people new hopes, new dreams, and lots of help.

Rain, Rain

Rain, rain go away! You flooded many cars at Starbucks and I had to take three detours just to get home today.

The Perks Of Being A Mommy

I got this nice little present from my son today. So cute. I cried as I was reading it. Crazy I know, but it touched my heart.



Here's an up close look

Need Some Advice?

If you are wanting some advice on love and romance then check out one of my readers new website, Baffld.com. All advice comes from the crowd, which seems to be getting bigger every day.

You can also posts questions on your blog for your readers to vote on and Baffld with keep track of the stats for you. Pretty Cool!

Susie Homemaker

I rarely bake, but I decided to whip up some Duncan Hines brownies last night. Trying to pretend to be a good little homemaker, I served them straight from the oven to my little angel and husband so they could enjoy them when they were nice and hot. Next thing I know, my 3 year old comes walking in the kitchen and says "hey, what did you put in these brownies, they taste like dirt".

I then made the announcement that my husband can forget about the homemade cake that he (for some unknown reason) requested for his birthday next month.

All In A Days Work

One of my customers is looking like a bad ass and keeping her safe inside the Green Zone (Iraq)

A Year Ago Tomorrow..

Anna Nicole Smith died in Florida, but more importantly my grandfather who I loved deeply, my biggest fan, passed away. I can't believe it has only been a year. It seems like forever since I have seen him and I miss him so much.

I think the first anniversary of a person's death is very important and I've had a special night with my family planned for over 2 weeks. We are going to eat his favorite food and I'm giving my grandma a personalized photo frame & memorial candle to mark the occasion. I had planned on it being a time to remember all the joy my grandfather brought to our lives. I also thought we all needed to be there for my grandmother on a very difficult day.

All of the sudden my family starts bailing on me tonight. My aunt & uncle who have been visiting are leaving tomorrow to go back to Illinois, my other aunt said she didn't know if she going to my grandma's tomorrow night after all, and my own mother decided to go out of town with her friend. Needless to say, I'm not too happy that everybody has more important things to do tomorrow.

I guess we all grieve in our own way.

It Is Just A Party!

This really made me laugh. It is sad, but true. .






I'm still laughing at this video even though I have played it 3 times!

Trying To Keep A Smile On My Face..

I am having one of those days...

I can see me drinking a glass, 2 glasses, perhaps a bottle of wine tonight after my little one goes to bed.

Horrible Customer Service

I received an order today and needed to adjust the amount the person was charged for their order. I received an error when I tried to place another charge on the customer's card (yes, customer was aware of the new amount) so I called my credit card processing company, Authorize.Net to try to get some assistance. What I got instead is a recording saying the average wait time was 62 minutes! How is that even acceptable??

Here is a message from their "Live Help" screen.

"All agents are currently busy. Please stand by.
You are currently at position number 40 in the queue. We are experiencing high volumes today and appreciate your patience."

I tried to call them last week and the wait was 34 minutes. Luckily, that time I was able to take care of the situation myself.

When I have actually gotten through to customer service on previous calls I was told the wait time was down dramatically from what it used to be. What was it then? A couple of days???

Authorize.Net is a very popular credit card processing company which many businesses use. It truly amazes me they think they are providing their customers with excellent or even acceptable service when the wait time to speak to them is over an hour!!

If their call volume is so high then they need to hire more people!!

My Wedding & Party Favors

This is what Emerald Coast Brides had to say about my plantable wedding & party favors in their Spring '08 issue that is on newsstands now.

"For a wedding favor that keeps giving to both the guests
and the environment, consider handing out something
for their yard or garden. All the guests would consider
the Decorative Daisy Seed, Wildflower Seed Favor
Kits, Plantable Wildflower Favors, Seed Balls, the Love
Bean, or Butterfly Gift Baskets, available through www.
CherishedGiftFavors.com, fun and useful."

The magazine is now sold in 18 states in stores such as Walmart, Winn Dixie, Publix, Books A Million, Borders, and many others that I can't remember.

I went to Publix last week and the found the magazine kind of hidden in the middle of the bridal section . I moved the whole stack to the front. Hey, I gotta promote my business!

SAG Awards

What were they thinking??

I Want This!

Love the coat that Felecity Hoffman is rockin at the Sundance. Too cute!! I want her shoes too!

Stuck Inside

It is cold and rainy outside so my family is stuck inside all day. My hubby is hating it, but I think it is the perfect chance to de-clutter my house and start getting together all of my business receipts/sales info for my accountant.

I hate this time of year because of the work involved in compiling everything I need for my business taxes, but it is also nice to see how much Cherished Gifts & Favors has grown since 2006.

I'm looking forward to 2008 being a great year business wise. I'm in the process of adding my 2008 line of elegant party favors and personalized gifts to my website which will give my customers even more unique items to choose from for their special event. I'm also increasing the advertising that I'm doing in magazines and on the web. It should all add up to a very busy year for CGF, Inc. January has already been busy so I'm really excited about the upcoming wedding season.

My Drama Filled Morning

It was a different kind of morning for me. I went to work for a little while then it was off to my son's doctor's appointment.

It is always a blast to sit in a pediatrician's office. I get to try to entertain my child while keeping him away from kids that are sick and if he is sick then I have the fun job of keeping him away from kids that are not. The waiting time to see the doctor is usually over an hour which seems like 5 hours due to the crying, screaming, and/or misbehaving angels that are stuck in the waiting room with you.

While waiting today I happened to overhear a conversation between a grandmother and teenage mother & her mother. The grandmother was probably in her 40's and stated that she was at the doctor today with her grandchild because her daughter was working. She asked the teenage mom if she was doing home schooling like her daughter was. The girl said yes and they started talking. The stories of the 2 teenage mothers seemed almost identical. Both had stopped going to high school and were trying to complete their studies at home, both had been cheerleaders, and both lost most of their friends when they had gotten pregnant. The grandmother pulled out a picture of her daughter taken at a dance. The only one she ever attended.

I felt bad for the girls. Their lives had completely changed in the last year. Their time should be spent preparing for college, attending dances, football games, and hanging with friends. Instead they are spent taking care of their baby, working, and dealing with problems that only adults should have to face.

One girl is now married so she is also responsible for keeping up a house while her young husband works. I really felt bad for the girls. In the blink of an eye their lives changed so much.

After finally seeing the doctor I walk out to schedule my son's 4 year old check up in June. As I walk up to the receptionist I hear one of the staff telling a customer in a firm voice the doctor couldn't see him right now because he was very busy. He was asked to take a seat and he would see him as soon as he could. I don't know what the situation was, but a few seconds later the lady helping me also told him to sit down. She then told him that if he didn't she was going to call the police. At this point there were a couple of other people in line behind me and we all had shocked looks on our face.

The staff was doing the best they could to handle the situation, but you could tell they were very embarrassed that it was happening in front of a packed waiting room. My heart went out to the staff because I work with the public too. Like I said, I don't know the history between the staff and the man, but it seemed like things had gotten ugly before.

Needless to say the doctor's visit this morning was an interesting one.

Oh The Power Of Makeup!

I stumbled upon these celeb photos on Yahoo. This is what these ladies really look like. WOW! Not only do they need makeup, but a brush would help a lot too!!




Eva Longoria




Jessica Simpson



Julia Roberts

The Things I Do...

I'm a pretty smart chick, but sometimes I wonder about myself. Why do I do the things I do?? Case in point, today I couldn't find my keys when I was leaving work.

I just had them an hour and a half before when I ran to the bank and to the UPS store across the street to pick up my business mail.

However, at 5:00 I found myself looking everywhere for them. I checked my purse twice, the office kitchen, the counter in the supply room, the floor by my desk, the top of my desk, on top of the file cabinet by my desk. They were nowhere to be found.

I started panicking. Another girl in my office was waiting on me to find them so she could leave.

I looked through my purse again. Then around my desk.

For some reason, I still don't know why, I decided to look in another place.

There they were!

I'm embarrassed to tell you where I finally found them.

I'm embarrassed for myself that I did it.

Of course, I'm crazy like that. When we were dating my husband called me his "Fruitcake".

So where did this crazy girl find her keys????

In my garbage. Yes, I said my garbage.

Hey, it is always nice to have a good laugh, even if it is at yourself.

My life is never boring let me assure you.

I'm famous for doing another crazy thing. Perhaps I will blog about it sometime. People who know me always get a good laugh over it.

Scary Moment

While I'm sitting here typing away during my lunch hour I decide to have a Hersey Kiss while I'm blogging. I pop one in my mouth from a jar that a vendor gave the staff at Christmas.

All of the sudden it hits me that the Kiss I'm eating is crunchy. The more I think about it the more I wonder if it should really be crunchy.

What if something is wrong with the Kiss? Due to recent food scares with hamburger meat, spinach, etc. I'm a little worried.

I decide to eat another kiss to make sure that Kiss is crunchy too.

I pop it in my mouth.

It's not crunchy.

OMG!

I dig in the trash to find the wrapper of the first Kiss I ate.

I find it and then dig through my candy jar to find another one just like it.

The tag says its toffee flavored.

I pop it in my mouth and it is crunchy too.

Thank God!

I'm safe!!

The toffee kiss was really good too. Now I have to keep myself from eating another one since I've already had 3 in the last few minutes!

Bill Gates Is Funny

Karyn is right. This video is pretty funny. For those of you who haven't seen it, enjoy!

The Little Things

They say to be thankful for the little things in life. Today was one of those days when I was thankful for the little blessings that made my day brighter.

1. I found out my Grandma doesn't have cancer. (This of course is a VERY BIG blessing).

2. I finally got my new treadmill in working order. I broke mine about 3 weeks ago. Because I ate my way through the holidays I really need to start exercising again. I haven't done much since my surgery on Nov. 19Th. Bad Girl!

3. We were short staffed at work, but it wasn't a crazy, busy day.

4. I found my ring that I discovered was missing this morning. My grandma gave it to me 20 years ago and I usually wear it every day. Today I couldn't find it when I went to put on my jewelry. I was upset this morning, but tonight I discovered it hidden behind another ring in my jewelry box.

5. I thought January would be slow, but business has really been picking up. I'm spending this month adding tons of new wedding favors and personalized gifts to my website. I'm really excited about the new items for my 2008 line.

6. Lean Cuisine frozen dinners were 50% off at Publix today. $1.64 for lunch isn't bad!

7. I ran into a high school friend that I haven't seen in years while I was browsing through the frozen food section.


The little blessings throughout the day added up to a pretty nice day for me. Except for my Grandma's wonderful news the rest of the stuff wasn't monumental, but I'm grateful for them nonetheless.

Inflated Prices

Hubby and I went to see National Treasure this afternoon. We don't go to the movies much, which I guess is a good thing since it cost us $17 to get in. We bought a large popcorn and 2 drinks and were shocked that it cost $15. To top it all off, the matinee movies now end at 1:00 instead of 5:00.

Crazy!!

I think we will stick to Comcast On Demand Movies and DVDs that we can watch from the comfort of our own home. Of course that is if we ever can find time to watch them.

Happy New Year!

I enjoyed ringing in 2008 last night with my hubby and a group of friends. We all rented a hotel room overlooking the Gulf of Mexico and attended a hotel sponsored party. It was fun and very nice to get away for a night without our little one. To help celebrate the new year I got a new dress, a pair of boats, and tried a different look by getting my hair done with a Jessica Simpson clip in hair extension.

I loved how my hair looked long. I have been trying to grow my hair out for over 2 years, but haven't gotten very far. I'm even using a special shampoo for hair growth and taking hair, skin, & nail vitamins. My hair is very fine so it looks stringy when it gets too long. Plus I don't feel I'm very good at styling it.

I would love to wear my new extensions every day, but we'll see. The video on the website makes it look so easy to put them in. I checked out the comments on HSN.com & Amazon.com before I purchased them and many ladies seem to love them. I think Amazon had over 300 reviews and HSN over 66. We'll see how they work out for me. The thought of having pretty long hair without having to spend forever styling it sounds like heaven to me.