What Was I Up To Last Night?

Better You Than Me

So, once a week I take the kid on a date.  I was craving a warm fudge brownie shot from Chili's(Shhh don't tell Leah and don't judge me).  We are on our way when I spot this and not lucky for these people I have the iphone that likes to take pics of nonsense.

I mean seriously is there a reason for the millions of stickers on here?  Kind of ridiculous and trashy if you ask me.  They didn't ask me so I thought I would tell you all about it.  TACK-Y!

Anyway, we get into Chili's and I get asked four times how old "she" was.  I said 26 because obviously they were talking about me and not my son.  They were talking about Boston.  So the kid is wearing a pink Polo shirt.  It's not my fault that my sister(@OCDSissy) thought it would be a good idea to wash his white Polo with red rugs that have never been washed yet.  Her response, "I washed it on the Cold Cycle!"  Sigh.  So here is the shirt.  Real boys wear pink or that's what I kept telling everyone.

Food came. Bellies were full.  Bill paid.  I had one good laugh left before the button on my pants busted when I saw this:

Better you than me!!

Hey Hey you can IJ!

Because we look good doing it

This is why I love what I do and am proud of who I am!

Blogher '09 Pictures

I Can't Get Away From This Day

Today I am excited, sad, anxious.  I have been looking forward to this day for a long time now, but you may not know that this is a day a try to forget every year.  The closer we got to the "Blogher date" the more I would see the day July 23rd replayed over and over on so many sites.

You see July 23rd 1983 when I was just three weeks old I lost my dad to a drinking and driving accident.  My father was sober.  I try to close myself off to most things every year on this day, but I can't this year.  As I am excited to meet all of my friends IRL, I will be struggling inside with the memories I never had the chance to have.  I told you all about it last year and my feelings are the same.  No, it does not get easier.

Though I will be having inner struggles I am anxious to meet people that make me feel okay to be me.  The "me" who has social anxiety, bad moods, happy moments, and mommy mishaps.  Dustin I love you, Boston I will miss you so much, and Daddy I am still missing you.

Blog Swap

So today is the day that I am swapping blogs with another member of 20sb and my partner happened to also live in Louisiana! Please welcome Pam by leaving your comment love and you can visit my guest posts here.

Guest Post: Louisiana Is a Whole Other World

So I’m not originally from Louisiana, but I have lived down here for about 7 years now. And I have to say it is a whole other world in and of itself. The food, the language, the festivals, the people, the culture. It is truly amazing.

When I first came down here the food was way too spicy, I could not understand a word people were saying, and it was ungodly hot. I really didn’t see the appeal. But eventually I got used to the heat, the food. And not having snow ever was the one thing that really won me over.

The words that I had to learn in order to understand and adapt myself to the culture so I was able to understand a whole conversation, was a lot longer then I thought possible. But the weird thing is, most of it is French derived, so in the end it really makes sense. I’m living in Cajun/Creole country.

Book sack – back pack

Coke – all forms of soda/pop, no matter the flavor

You wanna get down – This means do you want to go into the store/house/etc. I found out later this comes from the carriage usage, wanting to get down from the carriage to go into some place.

Sha, Me Sha – pretty/sweet/pick your compliment and stick it here. (not sure if I actually spelled it right)

Save the _____(cloths, dishes, whatever) – They are asking you to put away something. Short story; when someone asked me this I literally looked at the dishes and said “Save them from what?” I know, I’m a Yankee.

Ice Box – Refrigerator

There are probably lots more, but I can’t remember them all. I love it down here for so many reasons. The people are unbelievably nice. I thought MN people were sweet, but I was so wrong. LA people will invite you into their home, feed you, give you stuff, help you out any way possible when they hardly know you. Everyone on the street passing by, walking or driving, will wave at you. At first this kind of freaked me out, but after a while I got so used to it that when I went back to MN people stared at me funny like I was insane or something.

The people down here are not any more hickish or backwards then any other place that I have been to. They are nice, educated (even though sometimes you can’t understand them from behind their accent), and all around wonderful people.

If I have to put up with the heat to live in a state that is full of history, culture, food, festivals, the best people I have ever meet, and sunshine all year round – then so be it. Here is a little video that my friend found for me. It is awesomely funny. I feel bad for the On Star guy. Oh, and it has the school that I went to UL (the guys hat. I’m a dork I know). Once you have watched it and you think those accents are fake, then you have never been to southern Louisiana. They do talk like that.

Have a great Hump Day!!!

~ Pam of http://neuroticwriter.rachieann.com/wp/

Procrastinator...who me??

Geek Said...Chic Said

thisMoment #Blogher09

As you all know I love new media! When there is a new site, I am one of the first who wants to learn about it. So I was super excited when I was invited to be a part of the thisMoment conference call(which I wish would have been on Dimdim but that's ok). This is what I learned about thisMoment(and NO I'm not writing that incorrectly that's the way it's suppose to be):

thisMoment is an inventive new place for people to save and share their life's moments. By incorporating everything people already do on the Web and on mobile devices - photo- and video-sharing, blogging and social networking - thisMoment allows people to easily and spontaneously capture meaningful Moments in a rich, visual presentation, as well as share and collaborate on those Moments with their family and friends.


After meeting with this company I was intrigued to learn more. I spoke with Karie from Grand Avenue PR firm that sent me the info. We talked about how we could reach out to YOU...the people who get people buzzing---bloggers. I thought, "HEY, let's have a Monday night Twitter Party...and prizes!" They thought that was a FAB idea...so here we go!

TWITTER PARTY: Monday July 20th at 8pm CST-hashtag #thismoment

http://tinyurl.com/thismomentparty

We are going to talk all about thisMoment and give out a few prizes! The GRAND prize will be awarded to someone at Blogher!

CONTEST RULES for the GRAND PRIZE:

To enter, bloggers must:

1. Create a Pre-Blogher moment on thisMoment.com

2. Embed that moment in your blogs

3. Tweet a link to the moment on your blog.

4. Post a link to your blog on http://www.jenhinton.com/

Winner will be announced Tuesday morning on Chicks Who Chat by Vince Broady, thisMoment site Owner!

5 Reasons this Community Makes a Difference

I want to share with you a few reasons why I think this online community of women bloggers is so amazing and has made a difference in my world.

1. When you think that you are all alone and no one knows what you are going through, ten people are raising their hand saying they do.
2. When you are completely excited about something, there are people you can Skype and tweet to that will do that happy dance with you.
3. When you dress up in a hoodie and big sunglasses and proceed to go on MomTv, you don't have to explain.  Your friends already know why you dressed so ridiculous!
4. When you are working on a project and you need help promoting, people reach out and ask how they can help before you even ask.
5. When you need to let out a good cry, there are lots of blogs you can turn to that will make you laugh hysterically(thebloggess).<-----She can make any of us crazies feel normal!

Thanks for being there and enjoying my craziness...I certainly enjoy yours!

Getting Ready for Blogher

Want to Blog Swap?

I wanted to let my readers know that we are going to have a Blog Swap on The Classy Closet.  The deadline to sign up is July 29th and the list will be posted in the Blog Swap group on July 31st.  What is a Blog Swap? Well, we are getting a list of people together who would like to guest post on each others blogs for one day!  The fun part is we are going to pick your partners for you!  This is a great way to gain new readers and make new friends!  Want to join in?  CLICK HERE.

Is Adoption an Option for you?

Picture from http://www.adoptionstepbystep.com

Last Thursday on our Chick Chat night on the CC we were talking a little bit about adoption. Carissa has two adopted twin kiddos from Korea and I had a ton of questions. Dustin and I want to have one more child on our own and maybe adopt a third. This is a conversation that we have had over and over. There is just something about being able to give one child who needs parents love that makes me think we would be a great fit. I could not imagine how hard it must be for parents to decide to give their child up but I understand that sometimes it is best for the child's sake.

I have not done a whole lot of research on the actual adoption process. I will as we get closer to the process but for now I am reading in forums and blogs about adoption stories. These stories are so inspiring. On both sides of adoptions the parents are so strong in their decisions.

With so many decisions, I have made a real good friend and educator in Carissa. She will be coming on CWC tomorrow to talk about her experience. I can not wait for you to hear her story. Please continue to follow this blog as we decide whether adoption is for us.

Have you ever thought about adopting? What questions do you have?

Will it live up to all the hype?

I have been waiting for Blogher since last year. Right after I began blogging, I saw tons of people start talking about this blogging conference. I thought,"WOW, this must be where are the fancy dancy professional bloggers go." I knew it was something I wanted to be a part of but I was way to new. So I had my eye set on going this year.

I remember reading someone's blog who atttended last year that talked about meeting someone for the first time. They said something in the lines of,"Oh you are fatter in real life." Holy Moly. I know not everyone is going to be what you expect them to be. I can accept that. I would hope that there is no hatred. We are all there to have a good time and network, right?

I know there are going to be party after party after party. I hope I can keep up with it all! There are actually a few dinners that I am looking forward to attending. I think the most exciting part for me will be meeting these wonderful people that I speak to everyday but have never met. I wonder...Is Fiona as short as Leah makes her sound? Does Sugar really always have sexy hair? Does Danielle always look so put together? Is Toni just as silly in person? I guess we shall see!

So do you think it will live up to all of the hype??

We are doing more Blogher Talk on today's show!!

MySpace Type Picture

Beach at Fourth of July Seafood Fest, originally uploaded by JenHinton1.

Yesterday was such an amazing day with my boys and my sister(yes the OCD one). The Seafood Festival is the one that you dream about the food before you get there and are looking forward to the music that will be playing. It's always hot-excruciatingly hott but everyone loves it.

We got there and I immediately was ready for my chicken on a stick. I know...I live in Louisiana and here I go again with one of those hillbilly things again. Here's the thing though-that shit it delicious! I downed it with the best lemonade.

We took Boston down to the so called beach...more like a dump truck of sand and water. This was the first time that Boston had been in sand that he remembers. He did the toe cringe thing...it was so cute. Watching my sister splash around with Boston was awesome.

The best part was sitting back with my honey acting like we were dating again making cute little "Myspace type" pictures. We took a bunch more but I think I am going to keep them swept in my mind for safe keeping.

PS Boston LOVED the fireworks...didn't shutter once!

WIN a JVC Everio GZ-MS120 camcorder-WINNER ANNOUNCED

WINNER ANNOUNCED: CHERYL from http://www.thebudgebunch.com/2009/07/jvc-contest-entry.html

ENTRANTS LINKS:

http://www.childhoodclothing.com/2009/07/this-ones-for-girls.html
http://www.giftfullysimple.com/2009/07/classy-closet-contest-video.html

http://pegsplay.blogspot.com/2009/07/chicks-who-chat-aint-that-phat.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Brb2IFZU_DE
http://mandimindingmoney.com/2009/07/15/jenhinton-com-contest-entry/

Want to WIN a JVC Everio GZ-MS120 camcorder?? CONTEST TIME!! We are going to have a Video/Writing Contest!

Rules:
1.)You must make a video OR a written song(lyrics) about our "CHICK" community. The video/song MUST include the following somewhere in the video or written song:

2.)The words: "The Classy Closet", "JenHinton.com", AND "Chicks Who Chat"

3.) You must post on YOUR site and email the link to info@theclassycloset.com

4.) Must be able to ship to US address.

Links will all be posted on JenHinton.com and Winner will be chosen July 22nd by a panel of judges!

Bing vs Google

Where you are researching something maybe a new car, a toy for your child, or a recipe. Where do you start? Do you go to a search engine and click in a search? When I started looking at Bing.com vs Google, I had to ask myself to I care about all of the extra things I could be researching or do I just want the facts. For me that was the main difference.

Before I was really in tune with the online world, I would just search Yahoo.com. It seemed to work just fine or so I thought. Honestly, it did not pull up half the information that I found in a Google search and so I made the switch. So I have been a Google-er for sometime now. If I need to know(sometimes not need to know) I just "Google it."

When a couple of weeks ago I started seeing these Bing.com commercials. They definitely made their point because by the time the commercial was over I was in overload. Being the Chic Geek that I am I decided to check out what all the buzz was about. Today Bing has come out with a tool for searching social networking sites such as Twitter. Right now they only have certain Twitter users as a part of this tool. This tool is not currently being used by Google. Bing.com seems to have too much "fluff" for my liking. I suppose if I were not searching for something in particular this may be a good place to mosey around.

So I would have to say for quick, reliable searches Google still fits the bill best for me. Although, I do appreciate the hits I am getting for Bing.com as well!

Have you tried Bing.com? What were your thoughts on it?

I love my SITStas!!

Welcome! Welcome! Welcome!! THANK YOU SITStas for making me today the Featured Blogger today! I am so glad to be a part of this wonderful community. I hope you come back(daily) and leave more comment love...it gives me the {{warm and fuzzines}} and if you know me that doesn't happen TOO often.

Ok, so who the heck I am?? I am a mom, wife, we have a house blah blah blah...I don't really write that kind of blog. I consider myself a Lifecaster more than a blogger. The truth is I am NOT a good writer. I already know that, but I LOVE to vlog(lifecast). I am also a Chic Geek so you will also find out about the newest website that will help you with social media.

I am also excited to say I am SO thankful to be speaking at SITScation! If you are going please let me know so I can begin stalking your blog!! Vegas BABY!!