Category Archives: Blogging

Spring Style Mixer: Affordable Women’s Fashion from DownEast Basics

Recently, I was invited to attend the Spring Style Mixer for Downeast Basics, a clothing store at the Irvine Spectrum. The mixer gathered together a select group of bloggers for an evening of shopping. I had never visited the shop but I had friends who were raving about the place so I checked it out. Social media shopping mixers are always neat because looking at women’s fashion and shopping amongst friends is always fun.

Shelby of ocmomblog.com and I with Kara Noel of elislids.com photobombing in the background.

DownEast was founded in 1991, and is a privately held company headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is a lot like other fast-fashion stores with affordable clothing, that offer a mix of trendy items and clasic staples. According to a DownEast Basics representative, their ideal customer is “any woman who appreciates boutique style designs but wants it on a bargain basement budget!”

Kara Noel and I try out some hair accessories.

Of course, bargain prices don’t mean poor quality. In fact, I was impressed by the quality of the clothing. I was told that they get in new styles on a monthly basis to keep their inventory fresh. They have some basic items that I thought were awesome (Hello, wonder t-shirt line – it’s got spandex much like spanx, a friend to women like me who need the extra help, if you know what I mean.)

Wonder Tees and more at DownEast Basics in Irvine

Swimsuit for DownEast Basics Spring 2013 Collection. Photo courtesy of DownEast Basics.

Finally, you gotta love a store that connects with its customers via social media. Let me say, DE is all over it. They are on www.facebook.com/DownEastBasics, www.twitter.com/DownEastBasics, Pinterest: @DownEastBasics and Instagram: @DownEastBasics. You can also shop online at DownEast Basics online.

They are holding a Spring Styles Contest on Pinterest that ends on March 5th. One lucky winner will win a $500 shopping spree.

Pin It to Win It with DownEast Basics

The Best Writing Advice for Bloggers

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Write what you know. This is what they tell you. And so, for the most part, this is what I do. I write about my interests, my passions, events I’ve attended, people I meet, places I visit. This has served me well in my blogging life.

I envy fiction writers though because they don’t always write what they know. They use their imagination to write about and take their readers into other situations, other worlds.

An old cover of Entertainment Weekly featuring author Stephen King.

But perhaps it is because the advice to write what you know should not be taken at face value. Writing what you know doesn’t only refer to events, people, and places in your own personal life. It refers to emotions and feelings. Like Method actors who tap into their own experiences in order to portray a role.

Two-time Oscar award winner Daniel Day-Lewis is a method actor.

Yes, that’s it. Write what you know but don’t be limited by your own experiences. Explore the world. Whether you are writing a feature story, a blog or the next great American novel, do some research, experience, and experiment. If the topic is something you do not know about, then by all means, find out about it. You can talk to an expert, interview others who have experienced and work from there.

What I Learned from The 30 Day Blog Challenge

Can I Pick Your Brain?

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Go ahead, pick my brain. No, really. I do enjoy brainstorming. But don’t buy me a cup of coffee and call it a consultation. That’s another matter. For now, let’s share ideas and see what happens.

No matter how connected we are to each other online and through technology, nothing beats the human connection. You can chat with me online for months and nothings would come of it. So if you’re in town or a local, let’s get together and chat. Sitting face to face over a meal and having a conversation, can sometimes lead to a worthwhile project. Who knows?

From my Instagram Feed @marcietaylor

I do enjoy brainstorming especially when it leads to inspiration and collaboration. If I had a dollar for every idea I’ve had, I’d be as rich as (insert rich person of choice, like Richard Branson or Bill Gates or Warren Buffet or Kim Kardashian). Unfortunately, “Official Brainstormer Jobs” are hard to come by these days. I don’t think the position exists because in fact, brainstorming should be part of all jobs. Thinking creatively , seeing things from someone else’s point-of-view, working with others are essential to any brainstorming session – and every job when you think about it.

I believe brainstorming is most valuable when it leads to action. Sometimes we get too caught up in ideas and fail to move forward.

Do you have to be smart to brainstorm? I don’t think so. But you do need to be open – to new ideas, to different perspectives, to challenges. Most of all, you have to LISTEN.

Okay so maybe you live halfway around the world and we are on opposite time zones. That doesn’t mean we can’t brainstorm now can we? Heck, we can do a Google+ Hangout and see what happens.

I am grateful for social media – for every channel and platform – that allows us to put forth, gather and listen to new ideas and new ways of thinking. I’d like to think of Twitter, for example, as a universal Brain Trust – a whole universe unto which you can seek advice, ask for help, new ideas, different ideas. Join a Facebook Group and brainstorm online. Read books, watch videos, talk to people beyond your circle and experience life to enrich your own creativity.

And yeah, contact me if you want to brainstorm. I’d love a cup of coffee.

Connect, Teach and Share at OC Social Media Summit Today

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The 1st Orange County Social Media Summit is taking place today, Friday, May 18th, 2012 at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest. Nearly 600 people are expected to attend the day-long event focused on Social Media. Topics covered feature everything from blogging, to making videos to posting tweets and Facebook updates.

I caught up with one of the organizers of the event, Rochelle Veturis Coles @rochelleveturis and asked her a few questions:

MT: What made you decide to organize the Social Media Summit?
RVC: “We wanted to give some of our wonderful social media friends the opportunity to share their skills and talents with the community – because they do it so well, and so effortlessly. I learn a lot from the people on stage, and thought it was time to share them with the world.”

MT: Who are the people behind the OCSMS?
RVC: “My sister @HaleyVeturis and I are the volunteer co-producers of the event. Headliner @TedNguyen is not only speaking, but co-hosting and leading the social good and media relations efforts, as well. The Saddleback Church Communications team has been a huge help and support with the graphics, signage, multi-media components and production of the event. Irvine-based ProGroup donated printing of the programs and the Step and Repeat. Our wonderful keynotes have served as an advisory board – and all speakers, spotlights, and panelists, have been gracious enough to help promote. It’s been a team effort, and we appreciate and thank each and every individual who has contributed to making this occasion an all out success.”

MT: What ONE thing do you want attendees to leave knowing?
RVC: “They can do this. They are special, loved, and unique. There is no one like them and tapping into that uniqueness is going to set them free in the socialmediasphere. If they need help, they can contact anyone on stage – we love new media and are passionate about seeing others “get it,” and succeed.”

Follow along on Twitter hashtag #ocsms. Or catch the LIVE WEBCAST here.

Beth Aldrich Book Tour: Powered by Mom Bloggers and Social Media

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One of the coolest things about technology is being able to meet interesting and creative people and being able to collaborate on projects, without even having to meet face to face. Some months ago, an author, Beth Aldrich put out a call via Social Moms, about wanting to partner with bloggers who could help her with a book tour she was planning to conduct across the country. Being a lover of books and excuses to party, I emailed to say I could host a book signing in Orange County. Originally, the call was for the LA -area, but I felt that her book, “Real Moms Love to Eat,” was something that OC moms could relate to and support. Before long, we had organized the shindig in January via emails (and one solitary phone call) — it was to be held at Paradise Perks Cafe in Irvine, and Kristin Ausk of Meringue Bakeshop had agreed to provide some of her famous Pushcakes for the event.

Bound by books and cupcakes, and yes, this was taken with an iPhone (thank you technology!)

The book signing and presentation was a success. (You may see pictures of the Paradise Perks event on Facebook.)

For Beth’s promotional book tour, social media plays a big part. After the event, I asked the author about this matter.

Q. Your book tour is a little different and totally powered by social media and mom bloggers (mostly), how did this idea come about?

A: “My colleague and I were trying to come up with a way to get the word out about the book to women who would benefit most from reading it and we came up with the idea of sharing it with mom bloggers. I knew that if mom bloggers liked my book, moms everywhere probably would too. I was so happy to read all of the feedback from the bloggers and was so pleased to partner with socialmoms.com because they have such a wonderful community of moms.“

Q. Describe your book tour.

A. “I launched the book tour in NYC with a national media tour of 16 cities and a book signing in Brooklyn, NY. then, I toured around my own city of Chicago for a couple of weeks before coming to the west coast for signings and media appearances. I’ve tried to create a tour with the sponsorship money that I raised,thanks to Bare by Solo, Dreamfields Pasta and Flatout Bread, that would give me a variety of events, such as luncheons, bookstore signings, cupcake shop signings and even smoothie classes at exercise studios. I liked the idea of having food and treats at all of my events, so moms could feel comfortable noshing while I read excerpts from my book. I selected tour cities where I had friends and family or media appearances lined up, for the first three months of my tour and plan on touring extensively throughout the midwest, closer to home, after March. “

Q. What social media channels are you using to power your book tour, book sales and on a larger scale your campaign for healthy eating?

A. “I TWEET every day. I also try to update on FB as much as I can. But, like most moms over 30; I truly appreciate the good old email. I email friends and family and call in favors and ask them to share the news of my book. I also write for a variety of online sites and am always looking for ways to get write ups on online websites so share my book link and blog. It’s baby steps, but moms like to help each other and I love to share info about other moms on my blog, too.”

Q. What’s next for you?

A. “I really want to spend time with my 3 sons. Time flies by so quickly and I feel like I’ve given the book a good kick-start and am hoping to just catch up on sleep and relax for a few months. Book tours are SO exhausting; who knew?! Be careful what you wish for ”

To find out more about Beth Aldrich, visit www.realmomslovetoeat.com Her book “Real Moms Love to Eat: How to Conduct a Love Affair with Food, Lose Weight and Feel Fabulous” is available at Barnes and Noble and Amazon.com.

Meet the Press Club

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Worlds collide. It seems to be the running theme in my life of late. Online meets offline. Jersey meets Cali. The Philippines meets America. It can’t be helped. Technology has brought us closer to each other for better or worse.

As a writer–slash-blogger-slash-social-media-person, my words and pictures are my currency in the world. It is how I am known, how I convey my thoughts, how I am perceived, how I perceive the world.

Sometimes the collision is accidental and sometimes, on purpose. The OC Blogcrush + OC Press Club meeting held late last year at the Marriott Suites of Anaheim was one such event where two worlds came together for a reason.

The OC Blogcrush/ Press Club meeting panel was composed of people I’d consider both friends and colleagues, most of whom had started out as online acquaintances. They were Marcy Massura (Blogcrush, Weber Shandwick), Kevin Sablan (OC Register), Michele Himmelberg (Disneyland), Chris Epting (HB Independent) and Steve Churm (Churm Media).

There were many ideas and opinions that came across that meeting — pet peeves about grammar, the differences between writing for a digital audience and writing for print, and general thoughts on the state of social media with regards to public relations and journalism. And although we hardly had time to directly address the elephant in the room: “Were bloggers replacing “traditional” journalists?” — I think there was a consensus that this was not the case.

According to magazine publisher Steve Churm, (whether blogging or writing for print) “The essence is that it has to be something of quality in short or long form.”

But perhaps one of the most important insights was conveyed by author and Huntington Beach Independent columnist Chris Epting, who said that ultimately, writers and bloggers did the same thing: “We tell stories. We write. The heart of it all is the story.”

5 Social Media Resolutions for 2012

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Inspired by Dan Gershenson over at the Personal Branding Blog, here are my Social Media Resolutions for 2012.

1. ENGAGE

Of course any so called social media guru, maven, expert, specialist, will tell you that THIS is the secret sauce to building relationships online via social media channels. It’s a given to ENGAGE online, but MY RESOLUTION is to ENGAGE MORE and by more I don’t mean just more often but more meaningfully. This year, I intend to read relevant posts and get to know the other person on the line, the person behind that Twitter handle, that blogger behind that blog. Well, you get the picture.

2. ORGANIZE

Naturally, I resolve to be more organized every year and believe me, I die trying each time. But as hard as it is, to get organized in “real life,” you should see my Dropbox, and please, don’t even look at my C drive. So if anyone out there has tips or tools to help me organize my downloaded files, blog posts, press releases, proposals and random ideas – SAVE ME as I am drowning in a sea of digital disorganization (Fortunately for my images, iPhoto and Flickr make it easy to organize.)

3. CREATE

With Pinterest, re-tweeting and Facebook sharing options, it is more convenient to NOT CREATE ANYTHING. In today’s online world, with social media sharing tools at our fingertips, one can easily repeat or echo someone else’s image, words, ideas and what have you and claim it as their own.

This year I will double my efforts to CREATE MORE ORIGINAL CONTENT. This means, I will write more and actually post them on my blogs. I will take more images and not resort to stock photos.

4. PAY IT FORWARD

Last year, saw the power of social media for social good come to the fore with the Arab Spring and natural disasters like the earthquakes in Japan. Never has it been easier to communicate with large networks of people and as a result, mobilize people into action. Facebook and Twitter have given the power of the (digital) pen, which as you know, is mightier than the sword, to regular people like you and me. We can make a difference with our words or even just 140 characters.

This year, I resolve to “pay it forward” more whether it’s pushing out good content, or promoting and supporting causes.

5. LOOK UP

This is my version of stop and smell the roses. 2011 saw many of us glued to our smart phones. At social events, we tweet like mad men, documenting every single detail including the food we eat and the shoes we wore, but too often, we forget that right next to us is an actual live human that we can connect with. This year, I say, take your finger off that touch screen and instead of searching up the person’s Facebook profile, LOOK UP and say hello. That PROFILE you just looked up is standing right next to you.

Memory Flashback from 2011.

Taken at BlogWorld Expo in LA. I include this photo here because in the first photo you see us tweeting away on our phones (i.e. NOT LOOKING UP). In the second photo, we're laughing and ENGAGING more it seems. And finally in the third, we're just well, happy. That's me in a blogger sandwich by the way - with Jenelyn Russo and Suzanne Broughton.

Mother’s and Father’s Days put me in a pensive mood

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Words Unspoken. “I remember when I was younger, my mom said the reason my dad and I always clashed was because we were too much alike. I always thought we looked alike but I wasn’t sure how else I was like him. He is sort of reserved while I am an extrovert. He can be strict while I am not….” Continue reading here.

Thank you to all the Moms who helped me become the Mom I am Today. Excerpt. “It’s Mother’s Day weekend and there are muilti-generation families celebrating here. They wear matching outfits. If my mom and grandmother were alive, I don’t think we’d be wearing matching outfits but still, it looks kinda cool.” Read full article here.

You are What You Eat.

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I photograph what I eat.
It’s nothing new. Come to a BlogCrush gathering and see the camera flashes go off when a dish is served. It’s an unwritten rule – we all know not to start eating till we’ve taken pictures. My husband wonders why I can’t eat without first documenting my food.
I don’t do it all the time – I’m not keeping a photographic food diary but some really lovely dishes beg to be photographed – for posterity, for beauty…just because.
Cooking is an Art. And sometimes, depending on who you’re with, what the conversation’s about, where you are and what you are eating… well, that can be a fine art too.

Pandan Creme Brulee @Belacan Grill, dining solo

Portobello Mushroom Burger @Veggie Grill dining with @premiddleage and @rochelleveturis

Marcie Taylor

On Social Media, Food & Travel, Art & Culture, People & Places

Category Archives: Blogging

Spring Style Mixer: Affordable Women’s Fashion from DownEast Basics

The Best Writing Advice for Bloggers

Mother’s and Father’s Days put me in a pensive mood

You are What You Eat.