A Culinary Getaway For The Chefs In The House

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Hiltons of Branson. All opinions are 100% mine.

ince I am a mom to a bunch of kids, I better know how to cook right? I actually LOVE to cook, as long as it is something that is not too complex. I like simplicity in my life, especially in the kitchen. Even though I have a passion for cooking, I know that I don’t plan on making a career out of it. I love cooking for my family and friends and that is about it.

I see many shows on TV about different culinary schools. I bet you didn’t know there are culinary conventions too! There is actually a Italian Culinary Weekend Getaway to Branson, MO for those that want to take their cooking skills to that next level. Not only that, meet other like minded people who have a passion for cooking too!  This event will take place Friday February 26th and February 27th.  The getaway starts with a reception in the evening that includes antipasto, Hors d’oeuvres and Italin wine. Sounds like a plan too me! You will also be able to experience hands on cooking demonstrations. This would be fun to take part in!

I don’t think this getaway will fit into my agenda, but it might for you! The cost is based on a double occupancy and starts at $429

Stefani

Visit my sponsor: Experience the taste of Italy in Branson, MO!

Show Off Your Blogs Anniversary

Do you want your readers to know when your blog is having an anniversary? You can add a widget that shows your blog’s blogoversary! I just added one to the side menu bar. This is what it looks like below:

Get your own free Blogoversary button!

Get yours FREE at: http://www.blogoversary.com

Enjoy
Stefani

Help When You Need The Grab My Button Code

Today I was updating one of my blogs and was looking for the code that would allow users to copy/paste html code into their site to show off my button image. I tried using the code off another one of my sites and was getting irritated because it was not working. Luckily I found a Grab My Button Code Generator. I was able to input my link, image link and the colors that I wanted to use.

The image below is what I am referring to:
Grab My Button Code

Hopefully this tool helps someone else too! By blogging about it, I know I will be able to find it again when I need it.

Stefani

Promote BeRuby And Earn

BeRuby

Have you heard of BeRuby? It is a new online web portal that has links to over 500 various popular websites that you can earn money from. When you join BeRuby FREE, you can create your own page and add your own favorite sites if you wish. It gets better………

BeRuby has advertising agreements with the sites listed on their site and share the revenue they receive with you! You will earn 1/3rd of the advertising revenue that you generate by visiting websites, shopping, registering and more. You will see a little Ruby icon by the sites that you can earn from. Not only do you earn on your activity but have the ability to earn from the activity of those that you refer.  If you have a website, blog or newsletter this can be something you can add to earn you some extra $$$.

Sign up today and receive $1.00 FREE in your account!

Enjoy
Stefani

Cool And FREE Twitter Tools

Twitter ToolsOkay, so who is not Tweeting these days? It is truly amazing how such a simple site could grow so darn big. I don’t just have one Twitter profile either, I have quite a few. I have been trying to create a Twitter profile for each website so I can Tweet my site or blog updates. All these different websites allow you to interact with each other too! For example, I can link my Facebook to my Twitter so when I post a message on Facebook, it gets posted as a Tweet on Twitter.

If you are a Tweeter, you are probably on the lookout for cool and free Twitter tools. One thing that I am always looking for is Twitter graphics and images. Since I have over a couple dozen websites and blogs, I am always looking to put up a link to my Twitter profile. Here are some sites that offer free Follow Me Twitter graphics that you can use on your websites, blogs and whatever else to promote your Twitter profile.

I just recently found a free application that you can use with Twitter to make Tweeting more fun. Do you like Facebook? I like how you can reply to the posts.  There is a program called Seesmic Web that I recommend trying. You don’t have to download anything. You just visit their website and login using Twitter. You will be able to view everything like a email type of userface.  I have heard of other programs like this one, but Seesmic is the only one I have used so far and love it!

Don’t forget that you can make money Tweeting too! I have been a member of Sponsored Tweets for a few months now. You can set the price you want to charge per Tweet.  You do have to have a minimum of 200 followers. For those of you with a large follower list, this might be a way to make some extra money.

Here are a frew more free Twitter tools that you might be interested in:

  • Tweet Scan – A application that searches Twitter by topic of interest.
  • TweetStats – Find out just how much you Tweet. Enter your username and get some graphs showing your Twitter usage, Tweet Density, etc.

P.S. If you want to follow me, visit: http://twitter.com/mommye

Until Next Time
Stefani

How To Add Google Friend Connect To WordPress

If you are a blogger, you are sure to have seen the little Google Friend Connect widget on blogs all over the world. I actually had it on one of my blogs, but not a WordPress blog. With Blogger, you are able to insert all sorts of widgets and gadgets in just a click or two. The Google Friend Connect service allows anyone with a Google account the ability to join any website/blog that offers the service to enjoy the social media features.

The idea behind the Google Friend Connect service is to give internet users a universal account that will give them access to many different websites.

Since most of my blogs are WordPress blogs, I set out to find how I could add the the Google Friend Connect to my WordPress blogs. I found the answer and it was simple. I will share the 3 easy steps with you so that you can add it too!

  1. Login to Google Friend Connect at http://www.google.com/friendconnect/home/
  2. Click Set Up A New Site – Follow the instruction
  3. Add the code to your blog – If you are using a widget ready theme, you will be able to paste the code as a text widget.

Easy enough huh? When you are logged into Google Friend connect, you have access to other gadgets, stats and more! You even can customize the colors on your widget to match your site. Now to add it to this blog!

Until Next Time
Stefani

Why You Should Add Tweetmeme To Your Blog

TweetMeme

If you read blogs, you might already be aware of how popular Twitter can be with blog posts.  More and more you  are going to notice some sort of Retweet button on blogs. These buttons allow you to send out a Tweet on Twitter about the individual post you are viewing. Twitter is becoming more and more popular by the second. Even Martha Stewart is Tweeting!  Up until yesterday I paid no mind to the value of my blog visitors retweeting my posts. I have retweeted things but never sat down to find a way to allow my users to retweet my posts. I just only hoped they would think the post was so awesome that they would just do it manually.

One of the ways that blog viewers can retweet your blog posts is by using TweetMeme. For those that are not familiar with Tweetmeme, it is a service that aggregates links on Twitter to help determine what links are popular. There are a few other services that are similar that you might already be familiar with such as Twitturly and Retweet.com. If you are a WordPress blogger, you can add a plugin that will automatically place the Tweetmeme Retweet buttons on your blog posts.  You should be able to see one in the upper right corner of this post. Tweetmeme also has a  plugin for Blogger, Typead, Joomla, Windows Live Writer, Drupal and B2Evolution. They also have a Retweet chicklet and other Retweet buttons to use if  you are posting via email, on a website, etc. With the WordPress plugin, you have access to view Tweet stats which might help you see which of your Tweets are most popular. You can see how many tweets you are receiving in 24 hours. For the advanced Tweetmeme users with an App ID and App Key, you have access to a powerful analytics package too!

I have added the TweetMeme to almost all my WordPress blogs. I am hoping to see some sort of increase in my stats using it.

View the Tweetmeme site at: http://tweetmeme.com

Feel free to share your opinions about TweetMeme by posting a comment below.

Enjoy
Stefani

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