Jump by Jessica Gonacha Swift. I’m planning to take a big jump next week, but can’t tell ya about it yet. I’m such a tease!

Yay hooray for Link Love! While I’ve always been lovin’ the links, I love this series just because it gives me an excuse to thoroughly go through my Reader at least once a month. I totally con myself into thinking reading my blogs is work, because I have to link it up for you guys here. I’m so tricky, & I love it!

In order not to suck up the entire rest of your month, here are my Top 20 February posts (in no particular order, because rating them would be ridiculously evil):

• The Fire & Perspective on Swirly Girl
• Empathy on Follow My Bliss
• Imperfect Balance & I Intend to Wake Every Day, & Try on Torpid Trifling
• Mixtape #3 on Kind Over Matter (all their mixtapes rock the friggin’ houseoff)
• Open-Heart Surgery: Six Life Leadership Lessons Discovered in the Midst of Heartbreak (get the tissues ready!) on More in You
• People Want to Help You on Unicorns for Socialism
• If There Were No Criticism or Praise, Who Would You Be? on Awake at the Wheel
• If You Were a Superhero…, Listen: You Already Know All the Answers & Let Your Sun Shine on Treasuring (stop being so brilliant, Jess!)
• Why Are You Apologizing? on Seth’s Blog
• The Perils of Justifying Yourself on White Hot Truth
• How to Change People’s Minds About You on S.Joy Studios (there are 5 steps to this post, & the link here goes to the last step which links to the other 4 steps. Yes, this is a tricky way for me to include 5 posts that count as one. Insert evil laugh here)
• How Not to Hurry & The Hidden Art of Achieving Creative Flow on Zen Habits
• Feeling Small Makes Me Feel So Good on Rise of the Innerpreneur
• A Tiny, Sweet Thing on The Fluent Self
• A Fable About Possibility, Hope & Following Your Dreams on Owning Pink

(more…)

BE HAPPY by EverythingLovely found via A Beautiful Ripple Effect

People, it has been approximately 1 million years since I posted a Link Love post, & because of that – & because I literally subscribe to over 100 blogs in my Google Reader (that’s post-purging!), there are appoximately 1 million links to share. But, because none of us has 1 million years to read all these links, I tortured myself by including no more than 20 of them. Now, please note that there are over 700 unread posts in my Reader, & I think that my Reader lists when a post is starred – not written – so these are from the posts I’ve starred in January. Whew! This is getting complicated. Isn’t “simplicity” my 2010 word? I gotta look into that.

• Working It Out on Ink on my Fingers (great free download here!)
• What are intentions anyway? on Carmen Torbus
• day five (!) & a story on Follow My Bliss
• Is Your World Getting Smaller (Like in a BAD way?) & Show Them Who You Are on Nicole J. Butler
• life is subject to change: what happened when I raised my rates (this isn’t here just because I’m in it!), the secret to self-promotion: radiance & the facts, jack on White Hot Truth
• It’s OK on A Beautiful Ripple Effect
• 2009 Intention Review: a letter to myself & Design Your Life: Step It Up With Steph on Makeunder My Life (the former was the inspiration that, um, inspired me to write my own letter & post it for the people of the Interwebs to read. Gulp.)
• Why You’re Undervaluing Yourself (& How to Stop) on Productive Flourishing
• Batshit Crazy: Creative Ways to Meet Your Goals & How to Make Unstupid Goals& No Bullshit Branding & the Sustainable Empire of You on IttyBiz
• if you were a superhero… & let your sun shine on Jess Gonacha Swift
• It Doesn’t Have to Be Good & the Art of Procrastination on blue bicycletta

And for some shameless self-promotion, because I’m bursting at the seams!: (more…)

Go Ahead…Jump In: by Kim Creagan found via pecannoot (this is another great post. Just click on the photo title to read!)

I’m sorry, but what?! It’s time for another Link Love post? It’s the end of October? Crazy nutballs.

As I’m getting ready to move (Saturday out, next Wed or Sat in!) keep yourselves busy with my top 25 gems of the month (yes, I starred/tweeted almost three times that many):

• an awakening & three years into painting by kelly rae roberts
• Um, everything on white hot truth this month. It’s just the first page that’s up now. I honestly couldn’t not include every single one of her feature articles. It technically counts as 7 entries, but I’m cheating & just putting the blog name to count as one. I’m sneaky like that.
• Pouring Concrete on awake at the wheel
• risk free life by keri smith
• my interview with kath younger & four days left & the last day on follow my bliss. It’s my new favorite blog, & I’m a total stalker.
• Just One Page on Ivy League Insecurities
• The Meaning of Life? & Oh the Terror & Glory of it All & The Godliness of My Tattered Life on Warrior Girl, You’re a Warrior Mama Now
• Overcome Your Natural Sticking Points on Magpie Girl
• Invitations on Swirly Girl
• perfect vs good enough on makeunder my life
• A Boss Lady We Love: Jeannette Ordas on Boss of You (I’m buying their book, BTW, & it looks awesome!)
• What is Your Purpose? & Artists Don’t Have to Suffer on Unscripted
• A Case of the Creative Munchies & How to Feed Them on Freelance Switch
• Unplugged – Recharging Your Creativity on Leo on the Loose
• How to Pick Yourself Up When You’re Utterly Demotivated on Pick the Brain
• Make a Decision on Seth’s Blog
• Where Are You Spending Your Time? on Intarsia Concept
• Owning & Accepting What Is on Owning Pink (& yes, this sparked my Tough (Question) Tuesday this week)
• Letting your Freak Flag Fly by the Communicatrix (OK, it’s from her newsletter, but I couldn’t not include it. Read it, then sign up for it here. You will super thank me).

(more…)

sitting on a rainbow: by jess gonacha on pecannoot. This might be one of my favorite illustrations of all time.

This was a super-busy month, & I have to admit that I didn’t go a-blogging as much as I usually do. I thought I’d have a sparse entry for this week, but it must have turned out that I loved what I read, because there’s a lot of meat here!

Here are my freakin’ favorite links for September with some Aug posts, but I didn’t find ‘em until Sept so they still count)!:

• Welcoming Back Our Creative Selves on Jamie Ridler Studios
• let it rain painting on 31experiment
• Swimming Lessons for Moving Out of Your Comfort Zone on Creative Every Day
• Tiny help & Cleaning day & Shapes on Color Me Katie
• What’s in YOUR Way? by Nicole J Butler
• sitting on a rainbow: by jess gonacha & i am magic on pecannoot
• You Are Not Happy on Ivy League Insecurities
• How does Art Build Community? & Five Things We Learned About Business From A Glass Artist on Intarsia Concept
• Destuckifying when the shoes are flying overhead & Ask Havi #26: What to Say to People on The Fluent Self
• Reducing resume clutter on Unclutterer
• Guilty Desires Unite on White Hot Truth
• let me try this again on Kelly Rae
• Are the odds in your favor? on a beautiful ripple effect
• Make It Dangerous or It’s Not Worth Doing on Warrior Girl, You’re a Warrior Mama, Now

(more…)

Yes, I’m still using dachshunds to represent “links” in my Link Love posts. It’s just too puntastic not to! Here are Elephant & Apple Fabric Mini Dachshund by aliceapple.

As promised, here are my freakin’ favorite links of August 2009!:

• You’re Not a Real Shark on pecannoot
• Why You Must Discover Your Purpose on Pick the Brain
• wonder what their dream is & unfetter your happiness (you know you want to) on white hot truth
• Always/Never & Notes on Swimming & A Story About Ping (yes, she’s on fire!) on Emma Alvarez Gibson (I created my Always/Never list here. Share yours!)
• The Little But Really Useful Guide to Creativity on Zen Habits
• Start Before You Finish: A Case Study on Productive Flourishing
• Candy Clouds on Color Me Katie
• You don’t have to be the best on unclutterer
• All advice on how to manage creative people is awful by Penelope Trunk
• Why Not You? Why Not Now? by Carolyn Rubenstein on Psychology Today (shameless self-promotion alert!) & 11 Ways to Find Serenity Amidst the Chaos by Carolyn Rubenstein on A Beautiful Ripple Effect

(more…)

Sausage dog change purse by angharad. It’s LINKS people…like sausages…get it?! Yeah, I know, I’ll go back to The Catskills where I belong.

For those of you readers who’ve been around for a while, you know that my weekly series, Freakin’ (Great Links) Friday, was a staple on the When I Grow Up Blog for 24 installments. 6 months in blogger time is like a whole year in dog years! Well, my last installment was on April 24th, when I reassesed what the heck I wanted to do with this blog, and also asked all y’all what you wanted to see here. While some of you liked the links, it wasn’t the reason why you paid me a visit. So, when I decided to drop a serious, I laid Freakin’ (Great Links) Friday to rest.

But it doesn’t mean I want to stop giving out the link love, as there are so many links out there to love! I’ve been wanting to have a monthly series, but that hasn’t happened yet. Well, I’m starting…now! The last week of every month, I’ll have the links I’ve loved for that month. Because there’ll be more of them than usual, I’m gonna just let the titles do the talkin’.

Since this edition contains 3 months of links (oy to the vey), I limited myself to my favorite 25. Here they be, in no particular order – but don’t think it was easy!: (more…)

I’m so honored to have gotten the Kreativ Blogger award from Joanne Julius Hunold, my very first coach! Joanne is a fantastic coach who specializes in working with introverts. Despite that, she did wonders with me! Definitely head on over to her blog, & don’t hesitate to reach out to her if you’re a “shy guy” (or gal!) in need of coaching. Honestly, I can’t recommend her more highly. Thanks again for the award, Joanne!

In order to accept this award, I hafta name 7 things about myself that people might find interesting. Well, I’ve done this to some extent before here, here, & here, but here are some new ones for ya:

1. I had to wear my glasses in public for an extended period of time this week for the first time in 21 years. That’s right – I got contact lenses when I was 10 years old. Upon learning that I’d be banned from wearing my lenses for at least 10 days due to an eye allergy I got, I immediately called my Mom & demanded to know what a 10 year old had any business doing with contact lenses. Her answer? “You were a mature 10.” And, “Your Nana got me contact lenses when I was 10.” Nana will probably blame my Bubby for getting her contact lenses when she was 10 (in 1939), so I’m declaring to everyone that I’m breaking the chain!
2. My very first crush was Kirk Cameron, right around the time that I got contact lenses. Wasn’t he dreamy?
   
3. The only school athletic team I ever played on was the tennis team in 8th grade. We ended up in 1st place that year, with a gym in the banner to prove it. I know my usual spot as the #10 doubles player really helped secure that win. (Please note sarcasm)
4. I met my BFF Lisa in sixth grade, since we were on the same softball team. What really brought us together, though, is that we’d spend the most time on the bench – despite the fact that our Dads were the coaches!
5. For the past 15 years, I’ve worked super part-time as a willcall person and/or usher at Universal movie premieres in NYC. I’ve seen everyone up close – Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, you name it – but the two people I got most excited over were Debbie Gibson & Adam Sandler. For real.
6. Luke & I were delivered by the same doctor, a year & a half apart. Of course, our Jewish mothers discovered that within 15 minutes of meeting each other for the first time.
7. I worked on 4 episodes of Saturday Night Live, but only made it on-camera once – in this Oprah’s Favorite Things skit with Megan Mullaly hosting. And yes, she was very nice – she told me to make sure that my feet were out of her way so that she wouldn’t fall on them! Can you spot me? (Here’s a hint since the video’s so grainy: I’m in the front row in a pink shirt):

(more…)

It’s another guest post* – this time, on Jamie’s Rabbits! Jamie is someone I met through BYW, & she’s super hilarious. Click here to read about my Ten {Necessities} on Tuesday, & click here to vote for her as Funniest Blog on the BlogLuxe Awards! I totally want her to beat The Wind In Your Vagina, just on principal.

*in case you were worried, Laura at Lolalina totally released the hostage (aka: me). Now I need to get my own cupcakes & tea. Sigh.

You better read it or Laura will keep me hostage! It’ll be nothing but tea & cupcakes for me forever! HEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLPPPPPPPPP!*

*Please note that this joke will be funny/make sense when you read the post. And no, I would not want to be rescued from a life of tea and cupcakes.

Hey guys, guys! I’m totally featured today on For Your Inspiration, an amazing blog written by my BYW classmate Karen Watts Perkins, a freelance writer and Mom. Karen describes For Your Inspiration as “an inspirational blog for your domestic life”, but I think it’s great for all the undomestic divas, too (like, ahem, me!). Karen introduces you to inspiring stuff that’s useful whether you’re an artist, a decorator, an accountant, or a life coach! She also shows you some great tools that will have you storing & finding your information prettily & easily. It’s a great blog & I highly suggest you drop on by! Oh, and the fact that my interview is up there today has nothing to do with this plug…OK, yes it does. But go anyway because For Your Inspiration is awesome, with or without my interview.