Almost There, Not Here

I truly do love my Social Spaz little area of the Internet. It started with a Tumblr and progressed to the blog you see plus a lot of social networking sites (and a few embarassing YouTube videos) in between. But then...it all just stopped. Well, not stopped but transformed into a different kind of blog with a different kind of vision.

I started Almost There with a desire to be more creative and inspiring. Not that what I wrote here was boring and lame--I just wanted to bring some happiness in the form of grabbing little pieces of everyday love for life.

So, I did a no-no and just stopped blogging for my first born blog, but I didn't forget. I have a plan in the works to get Social Spaz out and about again because, as The Social Spaz I need a more social media/networking/did-you-see-this-on-the-internet outlet.

I won't deny that Almost There is my new, full-time blogging home but I won't leave Social Spaz all alone anymore.

So stay tuned!

A Poor Girl Fix: Nails, Nails, Nails

Here's another article from Almost There!
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Technically I'm not poor. I'm "budget-conscious." Running a business from home can ware on the ole cash flow occasionally so when I get a comfortable amount of money to spend, my first thoughts don't go to my nails. But I couldn't deny that my talons had gotten a little out of hand and something had to be done.

So where did I go to meet my French manicure needs?

Rite Aid.

Trendy, right? Rite! (See what I did there?)

Somewhere on that there Pinterest I saw a cheap trick to help get that French manicure look without pumping out the dough.

Here's what you need & what I purchased:

• Reinforcement Labels  (those annoying little circles you put around the holes in your paper so your binder can hold it)
• Wet N Wild's Wild Shine nail polish (on sale at Rite Aid for less than a dollar at the moment)
• Patience (I would have bought it but they were all out)

 What you do next is pretty simple but here's what I did to get my nails tipped in silver (because I wanted to be different, duh) and looking simple yet classy.

1.) Get some sweet tea or wine.

2.) Make sure your cat or dog is in another room because they sure want to be all on you RIGHT when your nails are wet.

3.) Clean your nails and strip them of any polish.

4.) Take your clear polish (or clear with SPARKLES) and paint each nail once. Wait until they dry then give them all another coat.

5.) Take the reinforcement circles and put them under the top part of your nail that you want tipped white. My nails aren't that long right now so my tips are bitty!

6.) Take your white polish (or any color you want) and carefully paint the tips of your nails. Don't worry about getting it on the rest of your nail! The reinforcement circle is a nifty little guard! Let it dry and do another coat!

7.) Take off the circles and BAM! A poor girl's fix to a sketchy French manicure!

So there it is! If you have a job where you look at your nails a lot or OTHERS look at your nails a lot, don't be ashamed if you can't justify a mani/pedi in your budget. Instead go to the school supply section of Rite Aid, Walgreens, CVS or Wally World and start the fabulous process of a poor girl's fix for your nails!

Mantel Love: Your Living Room's Thesis Statement

Social Spaz is all over the place lately! Expanding, new hires, more business and lots of social media! Right now we'd like to take a second to give you a taste of a new project called "Almost There!" If you're a fan of HGTV and a fellow DIYer, this new blog is just for you!

So here's a sneak peek of one of Almost There's blog posts! 
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Do you have a mantel that makes you ashamed? Does it have so much potential that you know you've missed? Are there random knick knacks that you just threw up there because--let's be honest--there isn't anywhere else to put the bronze skull statue your significant other bought at a garage sale or that Beanie Baby that lost its tag when you were 12?

To me, the mantel is like your living room's thesis statement--this is who I am, this is what I love.

There are so many statements you can make that it's easy to get gun shy. You dig the fam jam, are totally utilitarian, have a wicked color addiction or dance to the own beat of your drum. Which will it be? And once you have a theme, will you be able to pull it off?

Well I may not have a fireplace/mantle but I have a lot of ideas of what I want to do with one when I have it. Here's a compilation of ideas and pictures taken (and linked back to) other blogs and Pinteresters plus a few ideas of my own!

Honey & Fitz (a blog definitely worth a follow) posted an article that inspired my love of the mantel I don't-yet-have. In this post they had a picture that showed the flow of a nicely decorated mantel for those needing a creative boost.

Normally I try to come up with my own decorating rules (because my momma raised me stubborn) but what Honey & Fitz did (and Steven and Chris before them) really pleases me. Visually it's pleasant and has a lot of potential.

So here are five easy ways to make a visual triangle out of your lovely mantel décor plus some great Pinterest finds to make my imaginary mantel aesthetically-pleasing.

1.) Center a large piece on your mantel.

You can go either art or mirror. I love the look that a unique mirror can bring to a room but for a mantel I would have to go with art. So, in my quest to decorate MY future mantel, I picked Artist Yuka Nareta's Focus. This watercolor appreciates my love for whites space, color and inspirational quotes.

2.) Add something with movement to the left. You want your eye to visually flow from one direction to the other.

This is where I go in search of fun knick knacks that are a part of a collection and of varying sizes. How about those trendy owls? You just can't go wrong with owls--no matter their color, size or medium. Place the shortest one on the outside and line them up to the tallest.

3.) Add something with visual weight on the right. This will counterbalance the movement element on the left.

This is where that great vase you have tucked away in a cabinet or lonely on top of the refrigerator comes into play. Bold, beautiful color or wacky design would definitely make a statement. I personally want a vase that, even if there aren't beautiful flowers in it, can still make a statement. So I mustache you, why not a vase with facial hair?

4.) Layer in a couple of additional frames pieces in a cluster.

This is when I would bring out the funky colored frames of different sizes and designs and fill them with silly pictures of loved ones.

5.) Balance that on the opposite side with a couple of accessories in a cluster of varying heights.

Books, books, books! If you're a book lover then you have plenty of them around. Do you have a few special editions that are just adorable? Use them! Take a few books and stack them up to the right of your mantel. Get a few more little knick knacks that don't necessarily come from the same collection and place them on top of those lovely books!

These are the five steps to make a great-looking mantel. To tell your guests that YOU ARE AWESOME and so is your house! If you're like me and don't have a fire place or a mantel yet, don't fret! You can still design one and dream!

Remember, we may not have our dream house yet, but we're almost there!

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All images not credited can be found on the Pinterest board "Fire Over Here!"

July 13: Resolutions Update

By: The Owner and Operator of Social Spaz


Here's an update, two days after I started.
For the first part, go here.

Finish First Draft
Can you say heck yes? If you follow my personal Twitter, you've already read that I conquered a big bump of writer's block by listening to The Wombats new album on Spotify. I never listened to them before but something about their sound worked my writing kinks out and I wrote two chapters worth. Now I'm closer to finishing my first draft!

Maintain My Budget

Woops. Is that a picture of my favorite saying on my Nook in a brand new book? Nook book! It is. Not exactly keeping with my budget and it's only been two days. I need to learn self control when it comes to new books.

Exercise, Exercise, Exercise

I'm excited to say I finally found an exercise routine that I really enjoy and really seems to work. If you told my middle school self that I'd be jump roping in my living room in my 20s, I would have laughed. However, that's what I do. During commercials of two hour long shows I break out the jump rope and go at it. I'm not going to lie, my legs are sore and I was out of breath really fast, but after doing it yesterday and then today I was able to keep going for three minutes straight doing double jumps. Not impressed? Go buy a $5 rope and give it a try. It works your entire body!

Become More Personal
I am doing okay with this goal so far. I've been tweeting and this counts as a personal blog, right? Not to mention I've been uploading pictures to Instagram. Find me @socialspaz.

Take More Pictures
Mickey (my Canon) is thrilled to be going back home for a few days so we can take pictures of my little goddaughter. She's a natural model and always fun, so Mickey will be getting some camera time after all!

And there there it is folks! A quick update on my personal goals! Check back for more soon! #exclamationmarks #hashtags

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Tyler Snell is owner and operator of Social Spaz. Get to know her on a personal level by following her tweets @professorsnell.

July 11 - August 11 Resolutions

By: The Owner and Operator of Social Spaz

Here on the blog, I try to keep Social Spaz separate from my personal life. However, by doing that, I tend to just stop blogging when life and business get too busy. That's something I just don't like to do. So, after reading a wonderful blogger's posts (Kelli Taylor of Blimey Cow) I decided to do monthly resolutions and report cards. (Check out She Learns as She Goes for Kelli's blog.)

This way, if there isn't a post up about something social media or networking, then there will be a post about the staff. Either way, there will be no more dry spells! So here's my resolutions for July 11 through August 11 (I procrastinated so I'm starting a little later in the month!)

Finish First Draft
For those of you who don't personally know me, my biggest dream is to become a best-selling author.  I read and write habitually. About four months ago I started writing a story idea that surprised me by blossoming into something I wanted to turn into a novel. Now, I want to have the first draft finished so I can start the revision. Writing this is also another reason for my lack of recent posts.

Maintain My Budget
Dab naggit, I can't seem to stay within the parameters of my monthly budget! What do I splurge on each and every month? Books, books, books. I have my credit card linked with my Nook's Barnes & Noble accounts so when I'm done reading book, I can easily buy the next one with just a click of a button. I'm not saying I'm inching close to being homeless or sleeping in the dark, but I would like to exercise a little more self control when it comes to my money.

Exercise, Exercise, Exercise
I have big hips and I cannot lie, but love handles I will dare to defy. I used to be an avid runner but since working from a home office, I've fallen out of my exercising routine. I even bought Zumba for the Wii to help get me off of my very comfy office chair and shake some calories away!

Become More Personal
You might think that I'm way on top of my personal social media since I do all of those kinds of things as a job. However, after spending almost every waking hour doing something with social networking, I have become less enthused about the sites that I personally wanted to join. So this month I hope to: blog, Instagram, tweet, update and actively participate in other sites.

Take More Pictures
My Canon (named Mickey) always looks so lonesome when I walk into the office. I remember when I got him as a present and how excited I was to finally have a great camera. So why is he sitting in the camera bag silently crying giant camera tears? I DON'T KNOW! But it's time I liberate him from his zippered prison.

Those are my main resolutions for July 11 through August 11! After that I will have a report card of how I did! Until then check back daily for new posts!

Thanks!

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Tyler Snell is owner and operator of Social Spaz. Get to know her on a personal level by following her tweets @professorsnell.

10 Tweets That Summarize the Book Angels and Demons

By: InternetService.Net

The prequel that introduces Robert Langdon, the protagonist of Dan Brown’s runaway bestseller The Da Vinci Code, entitled Angels and Demons, shares the same themes of religion and conspiracy as its popular successor. The novels have spawned hit films starring Tom Hanks and spurred much debate among readers about the true nature of secret societies. And if we had to sum up the book Angels and Demons on Twitter, we imagine it’d go a little like this:

1. “@MaximilianKohler has invited me to #Switzerland to consult on @LeonardoVetra’s murder.” – When Maximilian Kohler, director of Switzerland’s CERN discovers the corpse of leading physicist Leonardo Vetra, he decides to contact symbologist and Illuminati expert Robert Langdon due to the “Illuminati” ambigram on Vetra’s chest.
2. “The #ambigram on @LeonardoVetra’s chest is authentic. His latest discovery has also been stolen.” – They quickly determine that the once-dead Illuminati society has reformed and is potentially responsible for the theft of the antimatter that Leonardo Vetra was studying. Because the antimatter is highly destructive, the race to recover it and solve the murder begins.

10 Reasons to Give Up on a Penguin Hit Site

By: Longhorn Leads

Has your website dropped off the edge of the Google earth? Did your search ranking sink to the bottom of the Google ocean? Millions of website managers have been hit by the new Google Penguin WebSpam update and are struggling to recover. They have found that the numbers of hits to their sites dropped drastically since the Penguin was released to raise havoc on the internet. Although it was designed to target web spammers, the Penguin doesn’t seem to discriminate who it pecks. Legitimate sites are hit while obviously illegitimate ones are left untouched. If your website has fallen victim, here are ten reasons to give up.

1. Paid text links – If your website has used exact matching anchor text to improve your search ranking, the Penguin will hit you. These paid text links are considered a no-no, so you can give up on that tactic.
2. Comment spam – People who visit your site can put spam targeted text in your comments that will attract the evil Penguin. You have little control over this and will never know when you’re going to get pecked again.