Although my oven frequently turns out homemade pizza, cakes, pies, cookies, scones, biscuits and so much more, sometimes I just don’t feel the desire – or have the time – to make truly amazing, scrumdidliumptious (to quote Willy Wonka) cupcakes.

This is where Cake and Allie – Specialty Cupcakes can come to the . . . → Read More: Truly AMAZING Cupcakes!]]> I absolutely LOVE to bake!

Although my oven frequently turns out homemade pizza, cakes, pies, cookies, scones, biscuits and so much more, sometimes I just don’t feel the desire – or have the time – to make truly amazing, scrumdidliumptious (to quote Willy Wonka) cupcakes.

This is where Cake and Allie – Specialty Cupcakes can come to the rescue and save your event, party or Friday night with the girls.

Cake and Allie is the brainchild of one of my coworkers who enjoys baking on the side. I admire her on a professional note and the woman can bake! She uses “real” ingredients including love, butter and fancy cupcake papers for an extra interesting touch. Now, on a personal note, she gets my vote because she can truly bake from scratch rather than a box of this or that.

However, one  secret that I absolutely must share with you is that she does not eat her own creations. But then again, she brings her “work” to the office and the cupcakes ALWAYS gets rave reviews. In fact, occasionally the cupcakes arrive at the office on the same day as some nationally-brand-name-that-will-go-unmentioned donuts and I feel sorry for the donuts because they get ignored until the cupcakes vanish.

If you live in Arizona and want to try some great Scottsdale cupcakes, check out Cake and Allie. Don’t forget to tell them that SeeMySpots sent you. =)

I’m “testing” Google Adsense out and one of the first things I did was to set up my account using SeeMySpots as my . . . → Read More: SeeMySpots – Down But Not Out!]]> For those of my readers that stopped by during the last couple of days and were greeted either by a 404 error page or a domain parking page, relax because I am still here.

I’m “testing” Google Adsense out and one of the first things I did was to set up my account using SeeMySpots as my “test” URL. Unfortunately, instead of selecting the AdSense option for “Content” I selected the “Domain” option. Unbeknown to me – it always helps to read before acting – I followed the directions to the Domain option and made all the necessary changes to my CNAME Record and A Host including creating 3 new “A” Records complete with applicable IP addresses. I was warned that this process could take 48 hours to fully propagate but, now that I think about it, that was Google’s time table for approving my account.

The next step was for me to get a 404 – page not found error when I typed in my URL. The next day I checked it on my mobile device and it resulted in a domain parking page – or something closely related. I waited the expected 48 hours and determined that I had done something wrong and made a couple more attempts at this.

Last night I pulled all of the A Records out along with applicable IPs and modified the CNAME record back to my root file and hit save to see if this would fix. Immediately, I received the familiar 404 error page and decided to wait until the next day to check.

Since today resulted in the same parked domain page instead of my blog, I decided to try things again. First step – I went to Whois and obtained the proper IP address for my site and logged back in to my hosting account under the domain control and modified my settings. I also realized that a simple “@” can go in the “www” column under the CNAME record. I could have hit publish and probably been good from there but I discovered an “advanced” settings button that brought everything back to default. I noticed that everything that I had changed back to what I thought were original settings had maintained but, I could have missed something.

Anyway, I checked my site and it was live again – complete with Lady Bug emoticon.

I like challenges and I will still be working on how to integrate Google AdSense into this template. So, stay tuned…..

Major Take-A-Way to Readers – It is much less stressful to work on personal projects than client sites…….. =o)

However, I do happen to work with a custom beaded jewelry designer that has been making various pieces of jewelry including necklaces, bracelets . . . → Read More: Handmade Custom Beaded Jewelry]]> I do not claim to be a lover of jewelry. Quite honestly, I don’t pass the jewelry counter and gaze in sudden amazement nor do I lust after baubles, precious metal or anything jewelry.

However, I do happen to work with a custom beaded jewelry designer that has been making various pieces of jewelry including necklaces, bracelets and anklets as a side hobby for quite some time. She has a site: http://www.beadzbiz.com where she features her line of custom creations.

Over the last few years – we have worked together now for nearly three years – she has gifted me with several necklaces that I thoroughly enjoy. (I have also purchased a bracelet combining various natural colored stones and silver hardware) A couple of my favorites in my “collection” include a light turquoise necklace with verigated circular shells and a natural-looking stone necklace ranging in color from very creamy coffee to espresso. She has also gifted me a necklace with evenly spaced creamy white slightly oval-shaped beads and natural smaller beads. Her latest gift included an interesting piece containing various circular beads likening to abalone shell. (She seems to have a knack in selecting jewelry gifts for people based on their unique personality as I have seen her gift other ladies in the office.)

Overall, her jewelry creations combine quality stones, shells and beads with silver hardware. Many of her pieces have – or can be modified – to feature magnetic clasps that make the piece easier to close. The biggest thing to keep in mind when browsing the site is to remember that each piece is one of a kind and usually will not get duplicated. However, if you see a piece that you would like in limited multiples, email her to see if there is multiple availability.

Please note that I am writing this post as a favor to my friend and coworker. I have also helped her write some page content to update her site and wanted to follow up my efforts there with a post on my blog. So, if the style on both seem to be similar, you will now know why.

So dear readers, if you are looking for some beautiful beaded jewelry, I invite you to visit Beadzbiz. Please tell them that SeeMySpots sent you.

Ah, April 22 has once again come around and it’s time for everyone to get on the “love our . . . → Read More: Earth Day – Why all the Hoopla?]]> Dear readers, I have been working on this post since June 25, 2008 and figured it was time to finally publish this one. I know it’s not actually Earth Day but that should make it more effective. =)

Ah, April 22 has once again come around and it’s time for everyone to get on the “love our earth and celebrate it for one day” bandwagon.  Unless you are living under a rock in say a rain forest, you are reminded everywhere you go that it is time to abandon your consumer-driven lifestyle and adopt a “greener” way of life for this one, highly-publicized, highly promoted day.

Is this the day that commemorates all the past earth day efforts to raise consumer awareness to think about consuming less and reusing more throughout the year or is this simply the day to encourage consumers to consume fewer “non-green” items and instead, consume more “greener” items just because it’s earth day?

Is the real problem here consumerism? See it, want it, buy it, use it, throw it away and forget it only to move on to the next greatest thing is the American way.  Some may say that this is Madison Avenue brainwashing us to “think” we want more than we need but I don’t agree with this in the least.  Sure, I may be biased by my advertising/marketing background but I am a free thinking individual that is RESPONSIBLE for my own actions.  Yes, dear readers, that is right, be responsible for your own actions and embrace accountability.

Okay, so let me come down off my recycled soapbox and get back to the subject at hand – Earth Day – the time of year when we are inundated with messages to respect mother earth and, hopefully, think about our consumption habits.  So where did this all come from and who initiated this and why?  Well, according to Wikipedia, <a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Day” mce_href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Day”>Earth Day</a> was founded in 1969 by John McConnell.  The first official earth day was April 22, 1970 and was instigated by Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin in hopes that there would be “a nationwide grassroots demonstration on the environment.” (quoted information courtesy of Wikipedia). Obviously, things have taken quite a different spend in the 40 years since this date.

So, why all this ranting and skepticism? I’m not against the concept of “Earth Day” or even the marketing efforts behind it. Sincerely, I just wish, hope, pray, persuade and do whatever I can to think twice before I throw things away and buy unnecessary replacements for items in perfect working order.

Speaking of this, I have the following perplexing questions to send your way…..

• Why do we throw plastic containers away that food is sold in but then turn around and buy plastic containers to store food in?
• Why do green building projects begin by ripping out all the non-earth friendly materials that are still serviceable, throwing them in a large haul-away bin and then immediately replace with “new” materials claiming many benefits to actually help the earth? Wouldn’t this provide more benefit to donate to your favorite local charitable organization or post on craigslist for a good second home?
• Next time you think about tossing something in the trash can, think about how “throwing something away” just becomes landfill fodder and never truly goes “away.”
• How earth friendly is the gas contained within those CFC light bulbs?
• For the smaller trash bins around the house – do you buy trash bag liners for these or do you think about reusing the plastic shopping bags as trash can liners? See my post on “My favorite grocery bag”

Until next time. Remember, think before you toss, buy or “consume.”

I thought about retiring the blog but it appears that my hosting company has forced my decision to continue by “auto-renewing” the charges and so here we are, going into the third year of SeeMySpots. I can honestly say that . . . → Read More: Updating the Blog]]> It’s been a while, or should I say, a VERY long while since my last blog entry.

I thought about retiring the blog but it appears that my hosting company has forced my decision to continue by “auto-renewing” the charges and so here we are, going into the third year of SeeMySpots. I can honestly say that my relationship with this blog has definitely been spotty at best (no pun intended!) due to the long periods of no activity and I have yet to define a clear theme. these are all things that I strongly advise clients against!

However, my interests still remain the same – hiking, camping, photography and a little bit of marketing thrown in for good measure. I’m still experimenting with this blog and using it as a test ground for testing my skills with FTP and uploading CMS patches.

For those readers that visit my blog, leave a positive comment and add to my daily visitor count in Google Analytics, I want to say, “Thanks” and to the visitors who think SeeMySpots is another receptacle for their spammy, non-family-friendly links, I will continue to mass delete with gusto!

=)