TGIF link roundup :: cool things going on around town and on the web

It's been a while since I've done a link roundup, but I'm trying to get back into the swing of blogging more often again. So, here we are!

Fade in Fade out fine art photograph by Ablaze
Is everyone ready for the long holiday weekend? I know I am. Mine got started a little early (unexpectedly) because my little Lucy beagle has a tummy virus. We were at the pet emergency clinic at 7 a.m. today. But, as you can see- or maybe you didn't notice, in which case, I'll point it out- I still managed to be productive today while simultaneously tending to the Beags and I made some small changes around here design-wise. In the left column, you'll now find frequent topics, an author bio with a pic of my shining little face and a share the love blog banner (feel free to use it!). In the right column, you'll now find my stay connected icons where you can hook up with The Blooming Wildflowers Project on Twitter and Facebook.

And now, let's get on with our link roundup,shall we?

On the web
Do you love color? Or are you a little intimidated by it and its infinite possibilities? Either way, check out Brandi's How to be a Color Rockstar e-class.

Want to quit your day job to pursue your passion? B.B. Bellezza shared 11 Lessons Learned from Leaving my Day Job.

Scoutie Girl posted about Our Disposable Culture (and how we can fix that). I'm loving this post because it fits my blog's mission and my personal goals exactly.

And lastly, Megan at Crafting an MBA has a great post about How to use Etsy as a launch pad. I piggy-backed off of this post and posted about my own plans over at Moxie/Grace.

Around town- Lancaster, Pa.
It's First Friday and it's a beautiful evening in the city (the past few days have really reminded me of the perfect weather in Southern California). I'm getting ready to head out to the festivities soon.

Happy Friday, everyone!

TGIF :: link roundup and heading out to Cali!

photo by me

Today is a huge (bold! italic!) TGIF for me because it marks the beginning of my vacation! I'm heading to San Diego and LA for 9 days! To say I'm excited would be a ridiculous understatement. To say I'm actually ready to go would be an equally ridiculous overstatement. There's still so much to do! Laundry, packing, setting up blog posts for next week, grad school assignments, packing, last minute shopping, packing...yeah.

But for now, here's a roundup of some of my favorite links from the web this week:

Business and marketing links:
The Secret Ingredient to an Irresistible Blog by Josh Hanagarne at Copyblogger
The Business of Being Great by Michael Bungay Stanier at Entrepreneur®
You Get What You Give: Social Media Engagement Translates Into Sales from Hubspot

Giveaways!:
Who doesn't love a giveaway? Here are two for this week:
Shannon at Happiness Is...is giving away a gorgeous necklace by Brandi of Catie's Blue (and the Brandi Girl blog)
Miss Malaprop is giving away Natural Body Balm & Naturalift Anti-wrinkle Cream from Melvita

Lancaster Local Links:
And lastly, for all of you Lancaster, Pa. peeps, here's what's going on this weekend:
Today is Music Friday in downtown Lancaster (and what beautiful weather we have for it this evening!)
Cork & Cap Restaurant opens tonight at The Cork Factory Hotel (yet another fabulous restaurant and hotel in our vibrant little downtown)

Have a great weekend!

TGIF link roundup

Lots of good stuff on indie business and marketing this week on the web. Here are some of my favorites:

• How to give yourself an online business education by Copyblogger
• Using Twitter Search for Business by Chris Brogan
• Should you be an entrepreneur? on the Harvard Business Review - *sidenote- I answered "yes" to all but one question.
• 13 ways to move your Facebook fans to action on Social Media Examiner
• How to lower your prices without reducing your profits from Crafting an MBA

Also a shout out to Miss Malaprop, who mentioned The Blooming Wildflowers Project (and my jewelry line, Pineapple Sugar) in her Friday links post. Thanks, Mallory!

If you're in Lancaster, Pa., it's First Friday! Be sure to stop by all the fabulous shops and galleries downtown. And check out Veleska Jewelry on West Orange Street. You might walk away with an emerald ring valued at $200- just stop in today from 5-7 p.m. for "Lucky" Discounts. (Hurry, there's not much time left!)

And a comment issue update- I'm still having issues. If you posted a comment, but it's not showing up, don't worry, I have it here somewhere and it will make it to the blog eventually. And I also can't respond to any of your comments right now (as much as it pains me not to). I'm not ignoring you! I love your comments and I promise I will respond to them as soon as I get this issue fixed (which hopefully will be sooner rather than later).

Have a great weekend!

TGIF! :: link roundup and other news

Happy Friday, everyone! I hope you all had a good week. Yet another snow storm hit my area today. I attempted to go to work, got about halfway there, nearly landed in a ditch, then promptly turned around and went home. I am so ready for some warmer weather! And speaking of warmer weather, D and I booked our California vacation for the end of March. I'm so excited! We're heading to San Diego and LA. Not that I need any help getting in the mood for California, but I thought I'd post a pic I took during our last trip to San Diego:


I so cannot wait to go back!

And while we're talking about pictures of San Diego, check out my redesigned logo and banner. The images used for the banner were pictures I took in La Jolla Cove of blooming wildflowers by the ocean. I think I like this banner update. What do you think?

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Lastly, I thought I'd leave you with some links I'm loving from around the blogosphere and other news sources this week:

SFgirlbybay posted a fabulous post on snow days with lots of pretty white items inspired by winter (very appropriate for my day today).

Tip Junkie has been doing a series called "Connecting with your Community of Readers." This week's article covered tons of tools that are available to bloggers to make it easier to share content and for our readers to find more information.

Scoutie Girl started a new series called "With Love, From Europe"- this week she "visited" Hungary.

The Storque (Etsy's blog) posted "Don't Quit Your Day Job: The Artisan in the Office" , a post about Summer Pierre's book about living a creative life in and out of the office. This one hit home for me since I'm one of those artisans in the office.

Crafting an MBA asked readers "Do your marketing efforts lead to sales?" and recommended the book Inbound Marketing by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shaw.

Brandi Girl posted about Spoonflower.com, a website that lets you print your own fabric. How cool is that?!

For those of you in the Harrisburg or Lancaster, Pa. area, Handmade in PA posted a roster of upcoming classes about The Business of Craft. Some familiar blogger faces are part of the teaching lineup- these classes look promising!

Have a great weekend!

Relax! It's the weekend!

TGIF! The weekend is finally here. Are you as excited as I am?

What do you have planned? How will you be contributing to shopping local and the handmade movement this weekend? Are you spending time crafting or are you shopping? Maybe both?

Whatever your plans, I hope your weekend is relaxing, enjoyable and productive. Here are a few pics to help get you in weekend mode (it's a balmy 15 degrees outside right now, so these pics not only get me in weekend spirit, they have me itching for lazy summer evenings. Right now!).


AnnuskA - AnnA Theodora
AnnuskA - AnnA Theodora

SunnyMarry

Rag's Photography

Ben

Miss Chien

All photos found on flickr.