The Kids Are Alright

Fall Refresh: Blog Redesign

September 14, 2012 by Angie ·

If you are visiting me here on the blog, you may see a new look and feel ofThe Kids Are Alright. I’ve decided to do a bit of a refresh of my design, just to keep things fresh and hopefully to keep it a bit more neutral. What do you think?

I stayed using the Genesis Framework from Studio Press and am building and tweaking using the Fabric theme. I’ve been so happy with Genesis Framework and would be happy to help anyone who is interested in making the switch! What do you think, please be honest…what else is missing? What would you like different? What is annoying? What is beautiful? I’m open to anything you think! It takes a village right?

Filed Under: Blogging

It Is Our Job To #FixYoungAmerica

March 23, 2012 by Angie ·

So, if you are a blogger, and have received any sort of payment or product on your blog, you are an entrepreneur. You are working to reach people, create relevance, provide a service, and maybe make some money on the side. In many of the cases of the bloggers I have met, we are mostly Gen Y or late Gen X. We have known an economy that is – at best – unstable.

Did you know that youth unemployment is at a 60 year high? The jobs typically taken up by high school and college students are not there like they used to be. The jobs that are there for youth are often well below what they are qualified for. Instead of feeling stifled or disenfranchised, many (23% of youth to be exact) are instead turning to entrepreneurship.

As a member of a generation with big shoes to fill as more of the “greatest generation” and baby boomers leave the work force – my hope is that the world and the way that we prepare our youth will take notice and figure out if big business cannot create new jobs, how can we support us in Gen Y and Gen X to create our own path and add our own jobs along the way. An organization called the Young Entrepreneurs Council and a movement called Fix Young America is working to do just that. The Young Entrepreneurs Council (YEC) provides its members with access to tools, mentorship, community and educational resources that support each stage of their business’s development and growth. Basically, it promotes entrepreneurship as a solution to youth unemployment and underemployment.

They have some ideas of how to do that, but they need our ideas too. What would you do to change the world around us to support more entrepreneurs? Visit them and tell them what you think. Together, we can work to make more changes locally and on a larger scale to support entrepreneurs of any age.

Filed Under: Blogging

Pretty Blogger Swap Linky

March 14, 2012 by Angie ·

Hello everyone! We are so excited at the results from the Pretty Blogger Swap! If you participated in the swap, tell us about it! Write a blog post and link up at the link below. Don’t forget to stop by and say hello to everyone that participated this month. Want to do this again? Send me a note with your ideas of what to swap for the next time! Thanks so much for participating and hope you had as much fun as we did!

Filed Under: Blogging

Look Who’s Coming To Dinner

March 13, 2012 by Angie ·

Today’s list is one of hope, regret, and support. I present to you, 5 people I would love to have for dinner.

Reece Witherspoon – Obvi I’m sure, but seriously. She is like everyone’s friend. I would love to pick her brain about motherhood, her career, and how to balance it all. And, style, exercise, and now marriage. Seriously, we just need to pow wow.

Christina Applegate – I love her in Up All Night, but also love how she handled her recent breast cancer diagnosis with such grace and dignity. Now as a mother, would love to have a play date!

Jake Gyllenhaal – Would like to meet with him for may reasons. 1) Seriously, so hot. 2) Why did you dump Reece, and Taylor. 3) Do you remember me? See, Jake and I met during the Rock The Vote visit he did during the Kerry/Bush election in 2004. I suck at being normal around famous people. Especially hot famous people. So when I got the chance to hug him, shake his hand, make an impression. I bombed. I could have built re pour but instead looked at those deep blue eyes, and chizled dimples and proclaimed…I like his ring. Meanwhile, a cutsie 19 year old college student asked him for a picture where he was giving her a piggy back ride. We then jumped into a van where they were transporting us to where we could put in our absentee ballots. Once the van came to a stop, he ran from the van he was riding with us, literally ran. Score one for Angie.

Gideon Yago – Who is Gideon Yago you ask? Well remember MTV News circa 1997 – 2001? He was the news anchor. He was the love of my college years. I was pretty much convinced that I was going to meet him and we were going to date and live happily hipster ever after when I moved to NYC. Well, again, I did get a chance to meet him. I was interviewing at MTV News for an internship. He walked by, introduced himself. He was radiant. Way more inked up than I expected. What popped into my head? Well, what would any normal girl from the Midwest trying to fit in in the big city do? I though – I’ll show him my freshly inked tramp stamp and he will realize just how in love with me he is because after all, I know him so well and this tattoo will be a sign that we are meant to be together forever. I still cringe at that 45 second interaction. SO, I would love to meet with him again, just to be sure he doesn’t remember me, or my butt crack/tramp stamp.

Bachelor Ben – I want to just hug him, then cut his hair, and then slap him and hug him again.

Filed Under: Memes

Day in The {Listable Life}

March 6, 2012 by Angie ·

Today’s topic is on 5 Things I Do Everyday. For those of you who know me IRL, there is very little I do in my life that is consistent outside of waking up, brushing my teeth, eating, repeating until sleep, that being said, here are 5 things that I do 90% of my days…

Check Facebook/Google Reader/Pinterest

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Seriously, mostly before I even get out of bed am I connecting with new ideas and stalking old classmates. I’m kinda phasing out Facebook these days though. Have you noticed that too? It just doesn’t seem as fun as it used to. Kinda feels like it jumped the shark. Google reader is my hub for connecting with my blogger network. It is so fun to wake up in the morning and see what everyone has been doing overnight. Follow me at Pinterest to see my obsession before your very eyes.

Make Lunches

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I’ve been trying to not only plan better, but also diversify the palate of both Cameron and us parents. Lately, I’ve been making two big dishes on Sunday nights with leftovers for Jeff during the week. Then in the mornings, I usually make Cameron’s lunch for daycare. This week my goal is no sandwiches which makes you be must more creative in what he eats. Yesterday I sent pasta, with hidden carrots in the sauce and soy meatballs. He ate it. I’m beside myself. I’ve been getting really great ideas for lunch from 100 Days of Real Food

Obsess

When I get an idea in my head, I research it to death. Right now, my current obsession is painting basement ceilings…wait for it…black.

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List

I make lists for everything. It is like my brain cannot process what I need to do until I see it written down. I typically don’t go back and check things off my list, but it is just the comfort of knowing that the things in my head live outside of my brain that helps me deal and move on. Guess that is why I’m a blogger huh?

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Connect

I work at home for an outside company, full time. The rest of my co-workers are all over the country. I now have to make a very focused effort to reach out and connect with others using old school methods, like the phone. I even wrote hand written Thank You notes last week. It was amazing.

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So, as random as those things are, they are about the only things besides hug and kiss my husband and son that I do on a regular basis. Is your life more structured than mine? What does your day in the life look like?

Filed Under: Memes