To tweet or not to tweet: That is the question.

I have been active on Twitter for almost 4 years. I was @naturalurbanmom for most of that, @SAHFeminist for a bit and now you can find me @NatashaChiam. I have sent almost 28,000 tweets in that time, have just over 4000 followers and am following ~1900 folks myself. I use Twitter in a few different ways. It is a way for me to stay up to date with news and world events (I follow a few trusted news agencies), to know what's going on in circles that matter to me (feminism, parenting, #YEG), to share my writing and blog with a larger audience and to stay in contact with friends near and far.

I LIKE Twitter. A LOT. I like that it is a real-time social tool and I like a lot of the people I have "met" via this platform. And on Twitter, I am ME. Yes, it also says Stay@HomeFeminist on my profile, and I live that reality every day, online and off.

But like anything in our highly digital world these days, Twitter has an ugly side. Or rather, Twitter allows for the ugly side of humanity to manifest itself a little bit easier.

We see it time and time again. A beautiful woman of colour wins the Miss America pageant and BOOM! The VERY ugly side of Twitter erupts. A woman wants to talk about Tropes in video games/pop culture and her life is threatened. And you can find countless awful examples of sexism and racism all over social media. These days Twitter is the no-holds-barred medium of the troll, the bully, the poor-priveledged-me's and the NIMBY's of the world and you can actually fit quite a few mean and hateful words into 140 characters.

Twitter seems to also be the place for people to have "personas". There is a whole subculture of Twitter, the so-called 'Weird Twitter', where people have anonymous accounts to which they can post all kinds of wacky, often highly inappropriate for everyday conversation things and they get to be all, well... weird. I am not knocking it, I just really don't get it.

And then there are the people who are "really nice IRL (in real life) or offline, but assholes online." To be perfectly honest, these are the ones that I have a hard time wrapping my brain around and the ones that piss me off the most. These are the subtweeters, the "I am not saying anything directly to you, or about you, but I'll just tweet MY OPINION about this topic and you can't get offended because it is only my opinion and it's not my fault if you don't like it."  These online assholes are the subtle or not so subtle mockers of the internet. The ones that for some reason actually believe that their ONLINE personas do not represent the 'real' them and because of this and to keep up the act, think that it is totally acceptable for them to be assholes online.

The problem as I see it is this. An asshole is an asshole is an asshole. Whether you are online or off, 140 characters or 1200 words or face-to-face. And you can replace asshole with bully, or someone who plays the victim all the time, or any number of folks who insist on maintaining that their online 'personas' are separate from the real them.

This clip from Louis CK on Conan has been making the rounds this week and I am going to post it again. And while he is talking about why cell phones (and by extension what kids are doing on said cell phones) are toxic for our children, I think that too much of anything is toxic for ANYONE and that too much social media puts us all at risk of losing some of our empathy and turning into the "stupid kids".

[youtube]http://youtu.be/5HbYScltf1c[/youtube]

The validation that people get with a RT or an LMAO or a 'LIKE' is NOT real. The mean words that people write on any social media platform are and can have profound effects on others and for the most part, there are no real world consequences for them. Often these exchanges get chalked up to, "You misinterpreted my TONE' , and/or the apology of the bully, 'I'm sorry you felt bad and misunderstood my words, but that is on you, not me'. Yeah, online or IRL, that shit doesn't fly with me (and for me that kind of behaviour online often results in an unfollow and/or block).

Like she was reading my mind today, Glennon at The Momastery wrote about the dangers of social media (and cereal). She took a 40 day hiatus from social media and learned some life lessons that I definitely needed reminding of today.

"During my internet fast, I learned that Social Media makes me feel bad. I wish I were cooler so it wouldn’t affect me, but it does. I once saw an Olympic swimmer interviewed after winning a race and she said “I swim best when I mentally stay in my own lane.” Me too. Social media just takes me right out of my own lane- every single time. No matter how satisfied I am with my life, career, family, social life – as soon as I log on and peek into others’ lives, I immediately feel that unease caused by comparison. I start to doubt myself. I just feel a little kernel of doubt settle into my gut and it feels really bad. Comparison is the thief of joy, and social media is a breeding ground for comparison."

And I'd go one step further and say that social media is also a breeding ground for those that like to bulldoze over others in the name of "having an opinion" and for people to let their inner asshole out to play with little to no regard for others or the consequences of their 140 characters.

It's enough to make a girl want to go on an internet fast of her own.

Which is what I just might do.

Maybe.

Starting in about 10 days.

You know, after I get back from that, ahem... social media/blogging conference thing.

{I know, I know, I have a problem.}

Signing off

{for today},

natasha~

A good day

Today I got up early. Got the kids ready, got myself ready, walked the dog, made myself a smoothie and was out the door by 8:00AM. I know what you are thinking... Dry run for school next week right?

Wrong.

Today, for the first time in MONTHS, I made it to an #SMBYEG (Social Media Breakfast Edmonton) meeting!

My lovely sister-in-law had the morning off and offered to take the kids for breakfast and I gladly took her up on her offer.

Some of you may be asking, what on earth is #SMBYEG and what exactly do you do there?

In a nutshell...

SMBYEG houses an open environment to share today’s best and worst examples of social media, as practiced by individuals, industries and organizations in Edmonton and around the world. Guest speakers share their experience and expertise of social media use, followed by an opportunity to network with a community of like-minded individuals.

Basically, a bunch of awesome local folks get together once a month to share ideas and experiences, to heckle the host (I love you @hedgehodge) and to meet up with a lot of other social media geeks and freaks that are doing a lot of great things in social media in our city and in our world!

I hadn't realized how much I missed these events and missed seeing all of these fine people in real life until I walked into that room this morning. I seriously got a head rush from it all! The new home of #SMBYEG is the fabulous Startup Edmonton venue in the refurbished Mercer Building and is yet another reason to be excited about these events (and did I mention the coffee and treats from Roast Coffee House + Wine Bar... soooo GOOD)!

AND...

To top off my incredible morning, not only did I get to see so many of Edmonton's local social media scene, I also got to hang out with this particular little social media darling!

Photo courtesy of @luzzara, baby courtesy of @JenBanksYEG

And then the kids and I had a play date with some new neighbourhood and school friends, we all had dinner with the family and then I came home and had the most riveting Twitter conversation ever!

It really was a VERY, good day!

Cheers to you all,

Natasha~

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And thus ends my posts for the Summer Blog Challenge. I *almost* made it! 

This is Post #30.

I am taking the long weekend off to mull over some things and will be back to the keyboard next week.

Friend?

You know when you write a word over and over and over and over...and eventually it starts to look somehow wrong?

Or when you use a word over and over and over and over, like "OMG, I love that sweater!", "I love that movie!", "I love that couch!", "I love these socks", "I love pomegranate lip gloss!" and eventually the word LOVE loses some of its true meaning and meaningfulness?

I think this is what has happened to the word and perhaps by extension, the concept of a FRIEND. Quite specifically in the realm of social media.

I write this after almost a month of not writing a whole lot because of personal issues and insecurities about myself and my place in this online world and with my friends within it.

Recently on Facebook, I was 'un-friended' and blocked from someones personal page. I did not think this was a big deal. We are not very close and have more of a professional relationship than a personal one. I read her status update before she removed me (and quite a few other people too) and I respected her decision to keep her page personal and for her close friends and family members.

Remember when that was what we used Facebook for? To keep our friends and family updated on our lives. Remember how fun it was to post pictures of the kids and our vacations for all our friends and family to oooh and ahhh over? When we could write personal messages on our pages and not worry about who was lurking about to see where we are and who we are with and who we are talking to? When no one was taking screen shots of our pages and forwarding them on in emails to other people for God knows what reasons? When every App on earth wasn't asking to 'GeoTag' you and announce to the world where you are "checking-in"?

Back then (a whole two years ago, if that even), you had maybe about 67 friends on your Facebook page and hadn't even heard of Twitter. And every one of those friends was either AT your wedding or at one of your birthday parties in the past 5 years!

So, {at least in my mind}, this begs the question....

Has the inescapable realm of Wifi, and unlimited data plans and Twitter and Facebook and Google+ and FourSquare and... and... and... completely wrecked our understanding, interpretation and definition of FRIENDSHIP?

Think about this for a minute.

How many of your {insert number here} Facebook friends would drop everything and come over to watch your kids if you were stuck in bed with the worst flu of your life? How many would dog-sit for you in an emergency? How many would buy you coffee and give you an ACTUAL hug if you were having a really bad day? How many would pick up the phone and call you....or even have your direct phone number for that matter?

What then constitutes a true friend? The Merriam-Webster Dictionary definition of the word is this:

Definition of FRIEND

1 a: one attached to another by affection or esteem   

   b:acquaintance

2 a: one that is not hostile

   b: one that is of the same nation, party, or group

3  : one that favors or promotes something (as a charity)

4  : a favored companion

I do believe that there are levels of friendship and some friendships are closer than others. Some are deeper. Some are based on a long history together, some on mutual life experiences, some on similar belief systems and some on the simple foundation of a love of all things shoes. And these days, some are IRL and some are SOF (strictly online friend - I think I just made that up).

For the sake of full disclosure, I have ONE Best Friend. I have known her for over 20 years and she has seen me in all my good, bad, ugly, beautiful, sick, elated, sad-beyond-belief and so-excited-I-could-fly glory! And I hers. And we RARELY talk via social media.

On the other hand, I have 190 Facebook Friends. And if I sat down and set up some form of criteria for who and what I truly believe a friend is, I know that this number would decrease significantly. Or at least be divided into categories.

I found this post by Kristen Tennant about the four levels of friendship and I think she does a pretty good job of describing these levels or categories.

Category 4 friends are people you say hello to and maybe stop and chat for a while if you run into them at the cafe or bar. They’re probably friends of yours on Facebook, but if it weren’t for Facebook, they would have almost no clue what’s going on in your day-to-day life.

Category 3 friends encompass a lot of people like co-workers, members of your church or community, the parents of your kids’ friends, and others you see and talk to regularly but don’t necessarily go out of your way to get together with. Every once in a while, you might decide to call them up and see if they want to meet you for lunch, or you might invite them to a big party you’re having, but the expectations of your relationship are low and the interactions are casual.

Category 2 friends can get more complicated, because the relationship is deeper, but the expectations often aren’t clear. They’re your go-to friends when you feel like getting a group of people together on a Saturday night, or you want to go out to dinner to celebrate a birthday, or you feel like inviting someone over for dinner. These are the friends you spend time with once or twice a month, but I also think we keep ourselves (or our hearts?) at a bit of a distance, to protect ourselves from feeling left out, hurt, or disappointed when they don’t come through.

And Category 1 friends? I think I would describe them exactly the way my nine-year-old daughter would: They understand you—they get who you are at your core, which means you can completely be yourself around them, without worrying what they will think. Category 1 friends like to spend time doing the things that you like doing best. And they always want to see you. Whenever you feel the urge to see them, they’re ready and waiting, thrilled to see you if they can possibly make it happen.

Now, no, I am not about to go and categorize everyone on my Facebook page, but I will make the case for having Lists on Twitter and Facebook and deciding how much you want to interact or share with these lists. You can set these criteria in your account privacy and settings pages on both platforms and on Facebook, no one knows when they are added/removed from one of your lists and on Twitter you can make both private and public lists.

How you use social media is of course your prerogative. These are after all your pages and what you do with them is your choice. So if you want to remove me, un-friend me, un-follow or block me from your friend list or your feed because we really are not much more than acquaintances or we have more of a business relationship than a personal one, go ahead, it is OK.

I will not be offended and I will respect your wishes.

And if need be, I generally know how to get in touch with you outside of stalking ...uhm, I mean, social media.

Natasha~

P.S. And now for my favourite song about Facebook by the incredible Kate Miller-Heidke. (WARNING: EXPLICIT LYRICS-NOT FOR THE KIDDIES!!)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0FdR7dEAYU[/youtube]

P.P.S.  I'm BaaaAAAAACK!!!

Photo Credit: Wonderbra Print Ad. 2009. Reza Behnam-photographer.

NIP by NUM

(nursing in public by natural urban mama) So here I am almost ready to call it a night (I've been up to my eyeballs in Quickbooks, trust me I am ready to go to bed) and I pop onto Twitter and see this tweet from Jessica (AKA @TheLeakyBoob).

And I got mad, MAD, MAD!!  Here is the link to the guy's actual comment on The Leaky Boob's Facebook Page. For one thing he is an ignorant troll and for another, well, he and all of his kind (no, not men, just ignorant human beings) are a HUGE part of the reason that we have such a stigma attached to breastfeeding in our world and why mamas everywhere feel the need to cover up, pump, hide in a bathroom, feed formula when out of the house, etc, etc, etc,.... when all a baby really needs and wants is right there under Mama's shirt!!

Today I had an opportunity to be a passive role model for breastfeeding.

I was sitting in a very busy Cafe O'Play, our local (and might I say fabulous) cafe and indoor play place, with my two and half year old daughter. We were surrounded by a bunch of NEW mamas waiting to get pictures taken and hand and feet castings done by another fabulous friend of mine, the lovely Kara from Wee Piggies and Paws.

Two mamas and their little babes (and grandma) sat down at the table beside me and one of the babies started to fuss. The mama started to look around in a panic and was wondering out loud where she should go to feed her little girl. I am not shy and I told her to just have a seat in the armchair beside me and have at 'er! I could tell she was nervous and so she went off to change the baby first. When she got back she tried to get settled into the chair with her nursing cover on and was struggling to get her little one on the boob. I reached over and helped her hold her cover open so she could see what she was doing (seriously mamas, those damn things are more of a hindrance than anything, IMO).  Baby finally got latched on and you could see the physical release of tension that happened to mama almost immediately.  She told me that she was worried that baby would come off and start coughing though because her let-down is so quick. I gave her a few quick tips about keeping her little girl in more of an upright position and to try laid-back nursing to see if that would help. She was also complaining about her nursing bra and I gave her a few suggestions for nursing wear that might make NIP a bit easier (nursing tanks and T-shirts).

And then....

With the best timing ever, my lovely little extended and expert breastfeeder looked over at me and said, "Mama, can I nurse please?"

And I pulled my shirt aside, exposed myself to no one but my daughter and nursed my 2.5 year old while also having a conversation with Grandma at the next table, typing and sending an email on my laptop and sipping my very yummy latte!!

I felt good at that moment. I felt like I might have made a teeny bit of a difference for that mommy. Maybe she will figure out an easier way to nurse her baby, maybe she will remember how easy and carefree both myself and my daughter where about nursing in public and maybe by example, I just gave a mama the power and knowledge she needed to know that it may be a bit difficult right now, but it will get so much easier.

And that she should never, ever, be made to feel that panic-y feeling whenever and wherever her baby needs to EAT!!

No matter what all the nasty trolls of the world say, breastfeeding is here to stay and I will do my part to make it easier and more normal for all mamas whenever and wherever I can!!

So go suck on THAT!!!

....and goodnight,

Natasha~

Super Heroes

Sunday night as I was just randomly checking my twitter stream this was happening. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5m6OErRXpA]

A town was burning to the ground. One that I have visited many times in my life time. A beautiful place full of incredible northern Alberta scenery and history and one of the most beautiful lakes in all of Alberta (it has actual gorgeous white sandy beaches).

Wildfires are always a problem in our province during the spring and summer, and this year is no exception. It is very dry here and add to that the high winds that we have been experiencing across our province this past week and it did not take much for a forest fire to jump across a highway and forge a huge path of destruction straight through the town of Slave Lake.

A full evacuation of the more than 7000 people who live in and around the town was put in effect on Sunday night and with only one road in or out they headed south to evacuation centres set up in Athabasca, Westlock and Edmonton. Most had to leave their houses with only a few minutes notice and with the clothes on their backs and a hastily packed bag.

Can you imagine for a minute what that would be like? Grabbing yourself, your children, your pets (and some could not do even this), taking one last look at your home and not knowing if it would be there when you came back?

Well, that was too much for a group of us on twitter to imagine and then not DO something about it. And so into the late hours of Sunday night and wee hours of Monday morning we set up an event page on Facebook to collect donations of material items that these people were going to need right away and in the very near future.

When I finally went to bed Sunday night, we were six Twitter moms just trying to do something to help our community and between all of our personal and business networks we had about 100 people already rallied on our event page.

When we woke up the next morning we had 500 people on the event page and by days end on Monday it was up to 1000. The donations were coming in en masse, the emails flooding our inboxes, and we were overwhelmed! Our front porches and small business locations could not handle the sheer amount of donations being brought in and we needed a bigger space to spread out and sort and get the evacuees and fire victims the supplies they needed!

And just like that, with the incredible power that is Social Media and one by one, Super Heroes came crawling out of the woodwork! A local community league donated their hall to us for the week. Multiple trucking companies have donated their trucks, time and drivers to us to haul huge loads of supplies to the areas that need them the most. Ford Canada stepped up and donated an F-150 pick-up for us to use for whatever we need! Some pretty incredible individuals have donated hours upon hours of their time to come and help sort through the mountains of bags that we have received.  A lot of them have babies strapped to their backs in baby carriers while they are doing this!

You hear about the strength of mothers in times of stress and the ones who lift cars off of toddlers. Well, there have been no cars on toddlers this week, but the strength and determination and sheer MOM-entum that is keeping us all running this week is nothing short of a miracle! I am both humbled and honored to call a lot of these women my dear, dear friends!

We still have A LOT of work to do. We need more volunteers over the next two days to help with sorting and organizing our donations. We will be packing up one of the semi-trucks tomorrow with immediate essentials and sending it off to the evacuation centre in High Prairie, where about 1400 people have been displaced from their homes and land.

If you can spare an hour or two of your time, or if you can gather together donations for our efforts, please join us at the Beacon Heights Community Hall in Old Towne Beverly at 4418-118 Avenue from 9:30-7 PM Thursday and Friday.

Here is the list of items that are most needed at this time:

Toilet paper, diapers, towels, formula, bedding, all toiletries, Non-perishable food items, bottled water, Depends - mens and ladies, bug spray, paper towels, bleach, rags, pails, cleaning supplies, Alberta Health Services grade disinfectant, dry dog food, NEW socks and underwear.

**Please have items sorted beforehand to make everyone's jobs a little easier**

Thank you everyone (these words just don't seem like enough right now!),

Natasha~

"There is a wonderful mythical law of nature that the three thing we crave most in live

- happiness, freedom and peace of mind -

are always attained by giving them to someone else."

Peyton Conway March

What I believe...

I believe that in order to be a star, you have to shine your light on others. I believe that what you put out to the world comes back to you three-fold (good and bad).

I believe that we all have a purpose. Some of us are better than others at uncovering what exactly that is.

I believe that like attracts like, on a very DEEP level.

I believe in the power of connections through word of mouth and personal experiences.

I believe in being passionate about life, love and work.

I believe in giving people the benefit of the doubt, even if I do end up getting burned.

I believe in collaboration and cooperation, not competition. (Although I do like a well-deserved WIN!)

I believe that ALL things in our lives happen for a reason. (Not the first time I have said this.)

I believe in taking a leap of faith, making the first move and going for it. (Even though I always think I am going to totally pee my pants right before I actually DO anything!)

And every time I look at THIS picture of myself,

I feel incredible and BELIEVE that I can DO anything!

This photo is my professional head shot. It was taken last summer, by the ever so talented Linda Patterson of Timeless Edge Photography.

Linda has a gift. She also believes passionately in her purpose as a photographer and story-teller.  And she gets goosebumps when she takes the perfect shot.  And quite frankly people, if she can make one dawg-tired mama look this good, it is a seriously awesome gift!

This picture of me is EVERYWHERE. My website, my facebook page, twitter, here on the blog, you name it!

It is my mark, my signature, my way of saying 'Hey there, this is ME!' to everyone in the ever-expanding world of Social Media. And it is very important to have an image like this that truly reflects who YOU are in this online world.

To that end, Linda is offering a fabulous deal to local Edmonton men and women who NEED to get a really good or a new and updated head shot/avatar/Gravatar/profile picture. Trust me people, it does make a difference!

It was not until I changed my profile picture on 'the tweeter' to the above picture of myself, that the venerable and oh, so awesome @unmarketing, Mr. Scott Stratten himself, started following me!

So, take the leap and go for it. Get your head shots done with Linda this month and trust me, you won't be disappointed.

And who knows what kind of increased and fabulous following you will soon be enjoying!!!

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I also believe in the power of Social Media!!

Night all,

Natasha~

Intervention

It is 10 PM and I have 2 hours to get this post published! This post is about Natural Urban Dad. More specifically about the two of us. And Social Media. And how it all fits together. Sort of. I tend to throw myself into everything I do whole-heartedly. Social Media is no exception. I love connecting with my followers and those I follow both on Facebook and on Twitter. I have met some amazing people through these sites and have some great relationships with these folks both online and in real life.

Here is the problem. My relationship with my one TRUE fan is suffering. And it all came to a head this past weekend.

We have not had the most fabulous 2011 so far. I have been laid up twice since January with injury or surgery and our household routine was basically thrown out the window because of this. And not to mention that recovering from two consecutive leg injuries does not make it easy to be uhm....sexy.... with your husband, so there is that too.

I have also made a big effort updating my website and my blog this year (what else was I supposed to do when I was all laid up!!) and that takes time (especially the damn SEO part)!

So, here is what a typical day has looked like for a while around here.

Mama gets woken up at 6 AM every day by a toddler looking for a boob wakes up.

Make breakfast for the kids, get everyone dressed, check email/Facebook/Twitter while kids are eating.

Forget to eat MY breakfast.

Take C to school.

Come home or head to Cafe O'Play for 1.5 hours so L can play and I can blog/update SEO/add website content.

Pick up C from school.

Home for lunch and some playtime.

Naptime for the kids (yes, they both still nap)!!

Back ONLINE to check Twitter/Facebook and answer messages and emails.

Kids get up, more playtime.

Get dinner ready.

Natural Urban Dad comes home and kids attack him and then go crazy for an hour!! (Does this happen to everyone's kids at this witching hour?)

Cajole and bribe 4 year old and 2 year old to Eat Dinner.

Bathtime and bedtime routine.

Kids try to stay up and find every excuse possible not to go to sleep.

Natural Urban Dad walks the dog.

I grab my computer and engage and check in with my Facebook and Twitter community for chats and the rush hour(s) of online traffic.

Or we watch TV and I have my iPhone beside me to stay 'connected' to everyone online so I don't 'miss' anything.

Natural Urban Dad goes to bed.

I do not, for at least another hour. I work and write and tweet and I like to watch Jon Stewart on The Daily Show at midnight.

And then I go to bed.

AND....repeat.

So, as you can clearly see, I need to do better here. I need to realize who and what my priorities are and be present for my family and for my husband FIRST.

Here is part of the problem as I see it. Natural Urban Dad does not GET social media. Yes, he has a Facebook account, but he checks it maybe once a month. He does not get that what I am doing on Twitter and on Facebook is working, he hears me laughing at a tweet or watching a YouTube video that someone posted and to him it looks like I am just having fun (with everyone else but him).

Social Media is about making connections, building relationships and growing your brand. It truly is networking gold for small business owners, especially those not afraid to JUMP right in!

But here it is...

You need to use it RIGHT! I personally need to start setting limits for myself and sticking to them. You can read a whole slew of other great tips here for managing your time online. Natural Urban Dad and I had a big LONG intervention talk about all of this the other night and we have some new grown-up rules that we are going to be applying around here (dedicated US time every night, a strict bedtime together and a ban on anyone being online during family time).

I leave you now with this video. It is bloody hilarious and hit a little too close to home for me this week.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQ8AUBn-4DY]

And it is now bedtime, so I bid you all a very good night.

Now, after you read this of course....turn of your computer/iPad/iPhone/BB and GO to bed and hug your spouse/partner/kid/dog!

XO,

Natasha~

Throw Down!!

I have been dared to do something. And not just a regular dare...a TRIPLE DOG DARE. The kind you just can't say no to.

It even says so in Wikipedia:

The infamous Triple-dog-dare is infamous for the sole reason that you cannot back down from it--without exception! An issued triple-dog-dare has no counteraction and must be implemented and/or carried out.

So, of course I am going to do it. I can't NOT do it, that would just, well, make me a pussy. Right?

So what is the dare you ask?

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The lovely and sassy Jen Banks (you might know her as @JenBanksYEG on the Tweeter) had triple dog dared me to write 30 blog posts in 30 days.

Before I get into that, here are a few things you need to know.

I do not believe in consequences. I believe that EVERYTHING happens for a reason. Every event in you life, every step you take, every choice you make and every person you meet. All of these things happen because they are supposed to happen.

I don't remember when Jen started following me on Twitter or when I started following her, but that happened. And then we met IRL (in real life) at, of all things, a Twitter event. I was there with the also awesome Tanis Miller (AKA The Redneck Mommy). The three of us ended up sitting together and tweeted sillyness very serious and meaningful information throughout the event.

And then we went out for drinks afterwards and we started talking about what we each DO (you know for a living and all). Jen is in SEO (search engine optimization for all you non-techies out there). I own an online store and (at that time) knew nothing very little about SEO. She decided to make my website her pet project. I said sure (actually it was more like yes, please, pretty, pretty please)!!

I can honestly say that the major changes you have seen in the look of the blog and the natural urban mamas website have been directly because of what I have learned and am still learning from Jen. So? Was it a coincidence that we met? I think not.

I think what has drawn me to her as a person (and as a friend) is that she PUSHES me. She makes me want to reach for more, to be a better e-commerce business owner, a smarter one, and she has this crazy uncanny ability to connect people. And now she is pushing me again to be a better blogger.

We all need these kind of people in our lives. The ones who push us to do more, to step out of our boxes and do better, to be MORE. And I for one don't want to let her, or you, or myself down. This is one challenge/dare that I am determined to DO!

So get ready for 30 days straight of my ramblings. I have no idea what these posts will all be about. Some will be long, some will be short and sweet, some will be Wordless (pictures), some with be funny, some maybe not so much. This is a journey for me, one I hope you will come along on with me and enjoy!

On the one hand I want to say 'Damn you Jen', you can't just throw down like that! But the other hand is saying Damn Jen--I can DO THIS.

So....here we go.....

(and 1 post down!)

Natasha~