Happy Pie Day!

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving filled with bountiful food and lots of pies. According to an email I received,  National Pie Day is on December 1st.  But upon further googling, National Pie Day is always on January 23rd.  You need to search far and wide to find it on December 1st.  Personally, I think Pie day should be on Pi Day on March 14 (3.14149265).  Since we're on the topic, I was glad to be in charge of making pies for Thanksgiving this year.



I bought a scalloped edge cutter just for this four berry pie.

Just in case you think I am domestically inclined, that pie crust was professionally prepared by Pillsbury.  But at least I can make it look good.  These days, whenever I see a lattice pie crust, it is with straight edges and often not even weaved together.  I wanted an old-fashioned scalloped edge lattice crust!  And boy did it look delicious.

 

Mmm, berries.... Strawberry, blueberry, blackberry and raspberries. It's an anti-oxidant paradise!



With my signature apple pie. The secret to my apple pie? Granny smith apples. And a dash of cloves among other spices.

Thanksgiving wouldn't be complete without a picture of my turkeys.



Hope you had a great holiday!

Fun at Hands On Small Business!

Microsoft Cambridge graciously lent their space for a couple of the Hands On Small Business sessions in Boston.  I always thought that working for Google would be cool, but Microsoft?  It would probably be a bit stiff (think PC vs. Mac).  But when I stepped into their beautiful space, I thought wrong!

Microsoft Cambridge is nestled on the corner of the Longfellow bridge in Cambridge had magnificent views of Boston and MIT.



Check out the two floor atrium from above. See that huge screen and projector hanging from the ceiling? That's what I used for teaching the Hands On Small Business session.



If you wanted, you could have a seat on this huge Pause button.  Cool!



But the HOSB participants were a civilized bunch who enjoyed the session from regular chairs.



Afterwards, we checked out the Microsoft Surface Table. Every home needs one!



At each session, I met great sets of small business owners looking for the social media edge. Meet Susan Callahan, baker extraordinaire of Goodies Homemade. I can personally attest to her goodies as Doug received a batch of her unbelievable Chocolate Chip Reese's Cup cookies. They were divine! Here she talks about her experience at Hands On Small Business.


Hands On Small Business Interview from Angela T on Vimeo.

If you'd like to catch an extra session of Hands On Small Business Boston with the lovely Christine Koh of Boston Mamas and myself on December 1st from 1-3 pm at Good Food Cafe, register here. Due to popular demand, there were sessions added in several cities, so check the website for the city near you.

WW - Hihowaahya?!!

If you want to know how to address a New Englander, check out The Wicked Big Toddlah.







HIHOWAAHYA?!!

If you're from the area, you know EXACTLY what I mean. If not, don't try this at home.

Visit by Wordless Wednesday, 5 Minutes for Mom or Seven Clown Circus for more participants.

Silly Monkey Story - Jumping off the swings

When I was a kid, my absolute favorite playground toy was the swings.  I could swing for hours and hours.  My kids love the swings too, but they seem to enjoy them only for a moment and then jump off.  At full height.  When I was a kid, I never even imagined taking flight off the swings.  These monkeys say, "No problemo, it's the only way to go!"







Dova said it was easy and demonstrated to me on video.  Way braver than I ever was!




Hosted by Karen at 3 Garnets and 2 Sapphires.

Dropbox Fever!

Last year, I posted about the great tool, Syncplicity. It allowed me to sync files on multiple computers as well as store them in the cloud. Since it came out of beta however, they changed the terms of the free account to only allow synchronization between two computers.  As a bonafide geek, I regularly use three computers, so I had to change my workflow a bit to only use two computers regularly (i.e. take my work laptop on personal trips instead of my home laptop).



Then I heard about Dropbox.  The free account has the same storage capacity as Syncplicity (2GB), but it does not have the two computer restriction.  In fact it also has an iPhone application, so you can view your files on your iPhone!  When I heard that, I was all over it.

There are a few gotchas that I had to overcome with Dropbox.  With Syncplicity, you can choose any folders to synchronize.  Dropbox requires that everything be in a specified Dropbox folder.  That presented a problem with Windows Live Writer.  I use Live Writer to hold most of my blog drafts so that I can work on them offline, especially while travelling.  But Microsoft only allows you to save drafts in its own “My Weblog Posts” folder under “My Documents”.  I abhor “My Documents” and anything that has the word ‘My’ in it (although I use it on occasion in programming, maybe the Microsoft way has rubbed off on me).  So the default location for my blog drafts could not be synced with Dropbox.

After some Googling, I found a workaround for the Windows Live Writer problem.  Thanks to Scott Is a Fool (author of the helpful Insert Amazon Link Windows Live Writer plug-in), he outlines how to redirect the “My Weblog Posts” folder to another location in both Windows Vista and Windows XP.  I followed the directions exactly on both operating systems, and redirected “My Weblog Posts” to a folder under my Dropbox folder.

Dropbox has been working flawlessly for me.  I have not had any issues with syncing or server outtages (unlike Syncplicity).  If you’d like to try Dropbox, use this referral link or click on the present below.  You will get an extra 256 MB of storage and also increase my storage by 256 MB.  Thanks!

PSF - Happy 9th Birthday Adam!

Adam, I know you would hate to read a gushy mom's letter for your birthday, so I'll keep it short. You brighten every room, you are "wicked" smart, and awesome at soccer. You love to read and you eat up book series like candy.  Perhaps like the bars of Kit Kats, your favorite candy. Sometimes I wish you weren't so oblivious to everything around you when you're reading, playing video games or watching TV. Hello Adam!



Your room is always an explosion of Legos and you love grooving to music. You've got real talent when it comes to the piano, except I know you still can't really read music (faker!).



I don't know how you grew up so fast, and I often wonder what happened to my Baby Buddha.  When did you get so tall and handsome?



Thank you for being kind and loving to your sister.  She couldn't ask for a better big brother and is lucky to have you.



I am very proud to be your mother. Happy Birthday, we love you, Adam!


Hosted by Cecily and Sue

Love Thursday - Finding a Friend

During one of Adam's last soccer games, Dova was bored as usual until she happened to see a Kindergarten classmate also watching her brother's game.  They bonded over Swedish Fish.



Yay! Dova found someone to run around with.



And to take walks with near the woods.  Those are some mighty big trees and mighty small girls.



Hooray for friends!



Visit Chookooloonks for more Love Thursday.

WW - I Need Intervention!

Just when I thought I kicked the Facebook Bejeweled Blitz addiction, my latest iPhone app update put up a new icon for Bejeweled2.  What could be new about good ol' Bejeweled2?



What's that on the bottom? Blitz? Facebook Bejeweled Blitz??? I just had to check it out. Before I knew it, I was sneaking my iPhone into the bathroom at work and playing "just one more game" instead of putting my kids to sleep. The addition of the Star Gem, where you match 5 gems in a "L" or "T" shape was brilliant as well (apparently they added it to the Facebook Bejeweled Blitz last month and I didn't even know.  I told you I was cured!). I had to get a screen shot of the star gem in action.



On the iPhone, that steps to get that screen shot would be:

1. Create a Star Gem by making an L or T shape of the same color.
2. Swap a gem to explode your Star Gem (it destroys its row and column).
3. Quickly hold the menu button followed standby button to get a screen shot while the lightning is still on the screen.  Repeat until you succeed!
   
4. Keep playing so you can get a high score.

Ahh, I love being on top, if only momentarily. I've had two days in a row hitting over 250k. I am convinced that using the iPhone app is a lot faster than using a mouse on the computer.  You can use more than one finger to swap!

On a more serious note, please send prayers for Anissa Mayhew and her family, she is in the ICU after suffering a stroke.  I met her for real (as opposed to at a distance at BlogHer) at Aiming Low's HP party last month.  She is as funny and real as a person gets.  Check Aiming Low for updates as well as searching on Twitter for #PrayersForAnissa.


Asian Invasion photo by Angie (A Whole Lot of Nothing) with Sandy (Momisodes), Anissa (Free Anissa) and myself.

Visit by Wordless Wednesday or 5 Minutes for Mom for more participants.

Cheetah and Gazelle

At the Smithsonian National Zoo, I found it ironic that the cheetah exhibit was very close to the gazelles.  Isn't that taunting the poor cat who can smell his food just around the corner?  Here's the cheetah hanging out in the shade, flicking his tail around.



And the beautiful young gazelle prancing nearby in the sun.



She stopped to bray, trumpeting gloriously upwards.



And then she posed for another photo op. She must know how beautiful she is, glowing majestically in the sun!

PSF - The Soccer Romance

Remember this picture of Dova flirting with a boy classmate during her first soccer game?



Apparently, this Kindergarten crush has blossomed through the season into a full-fledged romance. Grandma came to one of Dova's soccer games and captured the couple in action.



Here they are sharing some secret during practice. Either that or looking at a bug on the ball. Everyone is paying attention to the coach except for them.



Allow me to massage your shoulders.



Mwah!! I could just kiss you!



Let me impress you with the shirt-over-my-face trick! Dova was not so impressed...



I've got you now, let's hang out under my shirt. Since I can see that Dova is drinking from her water bottle, at least I know they're not locking lips! My 5-year-old baby is growing up way too fast.


Hosted by Cecily.

WW - Crocodile Roots

On one of our hikes, the kids discovered tree roots that looked like crocodiles.


Adam and a crocodile pointing right.


Dova and a crocodile pointing left, mouth ajar.


Another crocodile pointing left. Do you see its eye?

 
A skinny lizard getting away.

Visit by Wordless Wednesday or 5 Minutes for Mom for more participants.