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.

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?

I just loved both of the prompts from Listable Life this week, I thought I would do both!  So, let’s get on with it!

I started blogging in 2007.  I’ve had quite a few blogs – some personal, some professional, some I built for work.  Some flourished, others I just let fall off people’s Google Reader.  The Kids Are Alright is my first real attempt to commit to blogging – not just spitting out recycled content.  I’ve also helped my friends start another blog which is bringing more women into blogging and building a community.  So for my 5 years of blogging, here are 5 things every blogger should know.

Be Sure To Ask Yourself Why Do You Want A Blog – if your answer is because everyone should do it, that isn’t the right answer.  That isn’t to say that you don’t figure out the answer once you start, but without a clear direction your writing will be scattered and you may feel really vulnerable.

Post Regularly – I try to set a goal of at least three times a week.  I’m a binger  – meaning I end up usually writing quite a few posts at a time and scheduling them at regular intervals.  If I run into a writers block or don’t feel like being so personal, I write about things I’ve found, seen, or read and how that relates to my life.   Writing prompts are easy, but connecting with your audience isn’t…which leads me to…
Know Your Audience – if you have your purpose for why you write, figure out who that writing appeals to.  There are two schools of thought – conform to the audience you have and gain readers and tweak your blog purpose or stick to your purpose and work harder to find the right readers.  Neither are easy and my approach has always been a bit of both.  I spend time looking at things like Google Analytics but also I research my readers and follow them on things like Twitter and Facebook.  I want to know what they like so I can complement what they like to read already.  At the same time, I work to find the audience that will fit through social networking.  Twitter is my friend.

Design Means A lot – Ok, I may sound judgy here, but I know if I’m going to like a blog I visit within the first 15 seconds.  If I like their design, I usually will hit subscribe and add them to my Google Reader feed.  If they have too many moving graphics or colors that don’t appeal to me, I spend more time focusing on poor design and less on content.  I don’t have it all figured out myself, but I know when I see something I don’t like.

We Are Here To Help – I think I spent the first three years of blogging jealous of other bloggers.  It wasn’t until I found communities like The SITSgirls, ThetaMom, and sites like MomComm, KludgyMom, and DailyBuzzMoms that I realized we are all in this together.  Forming a community and a conversation became my goal, not becoming the next big blogger turned TV host.  Once I realized that, the pressure to be awesome lifted and the need to connect rose to its place.

There are so many great resources and books out there.  I personally love these two e-books.  They have helped me so much bring my blogging to another level.

31 Days to Build A Better Blog

This e-book just tells you everything you need to know if you have an established blog.  His companion book, ProBloggers Guide to your First Week of Blogging is one I haven’t read yet, but have read great reviews.  You cannot go wrong with any advice from Darrin Rowse at ProBlogger.

DIY Blog Critique

Remember when I said that design means a lot to me?  Well this book really helped me focus my blog design and streamline visitors experience at my site.  I HIGHLY recommend this book for anyone looking to take their blog from good to great – also, who doesn’t LOVE a good DIY book right?

I hope this helps!  I love blogging and could go on for hours.  So, tell me …. what did I miss?  What do you wish you would have known when you started blogging?

This is part of the weekly series called Listable Life hosted by The Moments that define life.

Every young woman I know or have ever known, prompted or unprompted, I give the same advice.  Before you get married and settle down, move or travel somewhere where you know no one.  I mean you pick up, pack up, and move out to a place where you are totally anonymous.  When I did it, it was without Facebook or texting or even the ability to afford more than 200 cell minutes a month.  It was awesome and here is why.

You have a fresh start – that isn’t to say that the past you left behind was dramatic or terrible, but you have the opportunity reinvent yourself without the judgement of those who have known you since you were in diapers.

You are scared – and what is more invigorating then being scared.  I personally work best under pressure and fear and the idea of living a somewhat real life survivor episode just to figure out how to get from point a to point b my myself, find food, my shelter, and wash my clothes in a foreign place – well NYC – was enough to kick-start myself.

You meet the coolest people – I would have never gone to the movies by myself or approached  a stranger and start a conversation if I was in my comfort zone.  I put myself out there to meet some amazing people, many of which I still keep in contact with all these years later.  They were my friends when I didn’t have any close to me.  They became validation that I could do this.

You see the world differently – Growing up in Nebraska, I cannot say I had the most well rounded world view.  Not until I put myself into a different environment – away from the stereotypes or the assumptions of people, neighborhoods, beliefs – did I realize just how little I knew.  For some that could be frustrating but for me it changed me to the core for the better.

You have some great stories to tell your kids – And they are YOUR stories….I cannot wait to tell the one about the time I got free tickets to 42nd Street on Broadway, or how I met a future famous director as we were both by ourselves a Romeo and Juliet – two rows in front of Justin Timberlake and Brittany Spears, or how I ate brunch on Father’s Day at the Plaza.  Amazing stories that I hope will inspire them to do exactly what I did…go get lost.

Photo as I came up from the subway, my first day of my new Internship – Summer 2001*

*taken with a real camera – with film