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Birthday Cake Making Dreams

Posted on September 19, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

This weekend, we went to visit my brother and his family. My niece, SG, turned four on Saturday, so it was time for a birthday celebration. When we arrived, her cake was sitting on the dining room table. Check this out and guess the theme:

This gorgeous cake was made by a co-worker of my sister-in-law. Here is her business card in case you happen to live out in western NY.

Not only are Molly’s Cakes delicious, her work is gorgeous. She also worked around a slight complication for my niece. SG is highly allergic to eggs. As you can probably guess, this can make baked goods complicated. We make cupcakes with no-egg substitute in them for birthdays to allow her to enjoy what everyone else is eating. Molly made SG’s top layer of the cake with no egg. It was a pumpkin cake. The bottom two layers had chocolate and vanilla with egg. Oh and the fondant was a new kind that she was testing. While I did not try any, others raved about it.

Did you guess the theme of the party? Here’s a little more decorations to help you out:

Here is a photo of the cake with the cute little toppers added right before everyone enjoyed the cake:

The birthday girl seemed very happy with her layer. Check her out with her cloud cake layer.

Of course, seeing SG’s cake made me realize how much I would still love to take a Wilton Cake Decorating class. They are given at several of the local craft stores. One of these days, I may. I think I am ready to explore with fondant, but then again – I really love my piping fun with cupcakes.

Categories:
allergies baking birthday cousins family fun interesting photos road trip weekend yummy

My Little Bug Boy

Posted on September 17, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Dear JSL,

Last Friday I was a few minutes late picking you up from school. When I told you it was because the roofer was here fixing the gutter, you wanted to check out the work he did. You also complained that you did not get to see T. Then as we walked over to the side of the house, something caught my eye. I stopped and then you saw what I did. You moved backward and did not want to get any closer. Of course, I pulled out my camera and had to get a shot from a distance. This is the critter that we saw:

You are not really into bugs. Check that, you are not a fan of real bugs. If you see one in the house you immediately move from the scene. I think this is trauma from the giant beetle that came out of a toy you were using earlier this summer. I worry about the centipedes and how you will react when you see them. I guess we will know soon enough.

The funny thing is you do like some bugs. One of your favorite shirts in recent days is your green one with bugs all over it. In addition to this, since we saw the giant praying mantis on the neighbor’s driveway you have been playing with your giant bugs that Aunt A and Uncle J got you. There is definitely a new favorite among the crew. Here you are bringing “him” to visit my computer.

I have a feeling that your fascination with bugs will probably change over the years to come. For now, I will enjoy the fact that the only bugs that you bring me are NOT the kind that were ever alive.

Love,

Mommy

__________________

If you want to participate in Dear Kid Saturday, head on over to Cutest Kid Ever by clicking on the button below.

Categories:
Dear Kid Saturday fun interesting jsl photos play time

Social Media Working Well

Posted on September 8, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Social media is my new world. It is not shocking that when something happens, I turn to that part of my life. Whether it is to celebrate something big, question an item aloud with friends, or look for someone to help me through a tough time.

Twitter, Facebook, and my blog are a part of ME. They are extensions of the person I have become since I stepped into the wild and amazing adventure. I have always said there is good use and bad use of this powerful tool. The truth is that you have to know how to balance what is in front of you before you let your fingers fly on your keyboard, phone, or other electronic device.

On the Saturday that I had to cancel my 10th Anniversary trip to Walt Disney World, I had to call Southwest Airlines. As I mentioned before, the woman on the phone was super friendly and compassionate since she heard me crying. Once I was off the phone with her, I realized that the money coming back to me was not what I had spent. You see it was short $40 for my Early Bird Check ins. Rather than call back, I sent a simple Tweet out to Southwest Air (@SouthwestAir) and their Customer Relations Specialist account (@SouthwestWhit). I asked if there was a way to get my money back since it was not included after I had called and canceled my trip. That’s all I asked and left it at that. I did not want to get in the way of other people and I knew that after a week or so, the mess of the storm would ease up and I could call to find out about this other money.

Monday, as towns near us were cleaning up from the destruction that was Tropical Storm Irene, SouthwestWhit messaged me back on Twitter. She asked for my flight information via DM. After a small glitch in the DM process, she had everything in front of her and said she would take care of the $40 and then said a few magical words. She wanted to know if the rest of my money had already been refunded. I did a double take since I was given vouchers to use by a certain date. I asked if that was possible since I had been given vouchers. She told me yes. In the spirit of good will and the airport I was flying out of (Long Island), they would. I was shaking from shock. I could not believe that, in a simple Tweet, this part of Southwest Air was fixing everything for me. Better yet, Whitney contacted me the next day to confirm that it was refunded in the full amount and to watch my statement. Yes, this is a social medial success story.

A HUGE thank you to Whitney and Southwest Airlines for making this sad event a little brighter. I know we will be trying to rebook our trip and fly with you in the future.

Of course, this was not the only time social media has worked really well. In fact this was quite different because I did not actively seek them out. In the Spring, I sent out a simple Tweet. I mentioned to my husband that I did not think that our dehumidifier that we had purchased ever worked. My husband tried to call the local store, but it was endless cycle of never getting a person. Since it was a fairly new machine, I sent him another Tweet and this time mentioned that we should look into something else and not Sears.

I was not complaining, looking for attention, or expecting anything aside from TechyDad to start helping me to research options. Shortly after this, Sears sent a Tweet back to me. They clearly had a search looking for Tweets that mentioned their company. This is a company that is clearly invested in using their tools and helping consumers. The @MySears account with Rhonda R became a lifeline with this issue.

To make a long story short, Sears went out of their way calling us to find why the local store changed stories on us, were estimating long waits on fixing the machine, and eventually replacing the machine because of a major factory defect. More impressive yet, they recalled me. When I sent a Tweet thanking a Sears associate for helping us to fix our lawnmower (simply needed new sparkplugs), the Twitter team recalled us and said they were so glad it was quick and not like the dehumidifier. Class act all around. Thank you Rhonda for making us believe in Sears!

Is this the norm? I don’t think so, but I do think more companies are starting to get the importance of really interacting and communicating with consumers via social media – whether on their Twitter accounts, Facebook pages, or blogs. Of course, there are still some that never reply to compliments, complaints, or anything. Their Twitter and Facebook accounts appear to be more of a method of advertising to the masses and not a tool to learn and grow with the people that matter.

What companies have you had dealings with that really GET social media? Would love to know how they helped you via Twitter, Facebook, blogging, or some other means. I could ask the flip side, but why dwell on the negative and give them any attention.

Categories:
Disney interesting me moments real world news shopping social media TechyDad Web business

Conquering Rope Bridges and Crocodiles

Posted on August 29, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

The opportunity to go on the Wild Africa Trek at Disney’s Animal Kingdom was something I could not pass up. As I have written earlier, the Trek is a behind the scenes tour that takes you to places you will otherwise not visit. Friends of mine had gone on media tours of the Trek and reported back with photos, video, and lots more. Of course, everyone spent a lot of time talking about the rope bridges. Even Disney’s own video did. Shannon and I laughed with each other for weeks about the two of us doing this part. Fact – Since I had my kids, I have a slight fear of heights.

So when I last left off we had finished with the hippos and Alex walked up to a skull marker on the path. *gulp* What you can’t tell is that Alex and Bethany are really into their roles. The entire time you go on the trek you are IN Africa – not Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

Then Bethany showed us a few more pieces of the puzzle. Check out these pearly whites that belong to some “critters” that we would soon be seeing from way up high.

Suddenly Bethany mentioned that the route that we should go on was not available to us. Instead we would have to be brave and go a different way – over the water. Insert dramatic music here! Yes, this involved heading up onto the platforms to the rope bridges that we had practiced for. I think Alex was having too much fun watching us. Some in the group could not wait to be first, others were just waiting and watching.

Bethany would head across the bridge first to show us how it was done. Conveniently, it would also place her across the way to take some photos of each member of the group as we made it across. This was the view from the top as we stood waiting.

This is a photo of members of our group waiting to be hooked up to the safety lines for the trip across.

I have to admit, I had lost a lot of my fear at this point. My biggest worry was TechyDad’s camera. Recall it was hanging around my neck and the lens cap was way back in the lockers. So imagine me on a slightly wobbly bridge trying not to knock said camera into the side of the ropes (being short it was perfect height for this).

Seriously, the bridges were not bad at all. The only moment I cringed a little was when one of the safari vehicles traveled under me when I was in the middle. Thanks to the vibrations from below the bridge swayed a bit. Here is a view just before I stepped onto the bridge for my second trek across a bridge.

When you travel across the second bridge – these are the critters that are looking up from below.

Here I am almost at the end of the second bridge. My bridge buddy is behind me. You can see I am more at ease now – the camera is going to be ok!

Of couse, I was not nearly as at ease as Alex. I mean check out how much fun he had watching all of us and then crossing the bridge.

From here we went down to wait for everyone to take their gear off. Yes, we no longer needed those contraptions on. We were heading to a safari vehicle for the next part of our adventure into the savannah and eventually to the Boma for a meal.

More about the African Trek coming soon. To read the previous parts of my adventure you can check them out here

Disclosure: Although we paid for our own trip to Disney World, we were given an incredible deal thanks to Disney. The sweet conference fee included 3 nights at the Grand Floridian, several meals for the entire family, 7 day park hoppers for everyone, conference/meals for me and some other items to take home. Also note that Disney never asked us to blog about this event. As a long time Disney fan, it is my pleasure to share my experiences from the event.

Categories:
bloggy friends Disney DisneySMMoms fun interesting laughs looking back me moments photos

That Thing Called Klout

Posted on August 26, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Klout stormed onto the social media radar not too long ago. Since that time, it has been watched, analyzed, and picked apart by countless people. I am not here to do that. Instead, I want to admit that I am intrigued by Klout and often wonder how and why it works. I have a Klout plugin on my Seesmic Desktop so I can be nosey.

At first Klout was just a number. According to Klout:

Klout measures influence based on the ability to drive action, not potentially misleading metrics like follower or friend count. Klout has analyzed over 85 million people on major social networks, and is used by over 3000 brands and applications.

Then, they started Klout Perks. This was a way for businesses to work with individuals via Klout to learn about new products from their brands. Some companies that have used Perks are Disney, Spotify, Subway, and P&G. Sometimes, Perks are sent to you via a Tweet from Klout Perks, other times they show up in your dashboard.

Thanks to Klout Perks, I have been able to try Spotify, test Secret Clinical Strength deodorant, and, most recently, help with PACE through a Klout Perk with Dick’s Sporting Goods. PACE helps to protest athletes through concussion education.

Klout also allows you to recognize people that influence you. By going to Klout, you can look at the topics that people are influential in and give them a +K. When you give someone a +K, you are able to Tweet it. There is some controversy about tossing this into the Twitter streams. Some people consider it Spam. I tend to agree, so I add a message to the tweet to personalize it. Here’s an example:

It’s like my view of Follow Friday. Rather than a long stream of Twitter people, I personalize it with something that makes them special to me. People have noticed this and several that I know have started this fun new touch to giving +K to people.

So this week’s Aloha Friday question is inspired by Klout:

Have you signed up for Klout yet? If you have, what do you like and/or dislike about it? I would love to know what topics it says you are influential about. Do you have any thoughts on the +K Tweets?

Disclosure: I was given Dick’s Sporting Goods gift cards because I’m a Klout influencer. I was under no obligation to receive the sample or talk about this company. I get no additional benefits for talking about the product or company. This perk simply worked into my post about Klout in general.

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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the linky there if you are participating.