February 3rd and 4th Phineas and Ferb are coming to Denver for a pile of fun Love entertainment! “Disney’s Phineas and Ferb: The Best Live Tour Ever!” will be at the Wells Fargo Theater in Downtown Denver with 4 show times available. Tickets start at $16 and you can easily buy them through TicketMaster or DisneyLive.com.

“Audiences will be whisked on a wild ride as Phineas and Ferb build their way to another over the top, extraordinary adventure. And, before anyone can wonder, “Hey, where’s Perry?” the beloved pet platypus shifts to his secret double life as Agent P to foil another one of Dr. Doofenshmirtz’s evil plans. Musical madness abounds in an escapade so awesome that even Candace can’t help but join the hilarious hijinks. It’s the ultimate end to summer vacation, so seize the day ‘cause Phineas and Ferb are gonna do it all!”

Save $3.00 per ticket with the code FFAPF! (Friday shows only).

My kids love Phineas and Ferb! They’re witty with smart little side jokes fit into every scene. The boys are inventive and imaginative and full of adventure. It will be fun to see how the live show compares to the cartoon.

Phineas and Ferb trivia fun:

1. Q: What season does the show take place?
A: Summer

2. Q: How many days of summer vacation?
A: 104 days

3. Q: What comes along to end summer vacation?
A: School

4. Q: How are Phineas and Ferb related?
A: They are Stepbrothers

5. Q: What color is Ferb’s hair?
A: Green

6. Q: What is the name of Phineas and Ferb’s sister?
A: Candace

7. Q: How old is Candace?
A: 15 years old

8. Q: Who is Linda Flynn-Fletcher?
A: Candace and Phineas mom and Ferb’s step mom

9. Q: Which female character was a one-hit wonder in the 80s?
A: Linda Flynn-Fletcher with the pop star name Lindana

10. Q: What was the hit song sung by Lindana?
A: I’m Lindana and I Wanna Fun

11. Q: Who is Lawrence Fletcher?
A: Ferb’s dad and Candace’s and Phineas’ adopted stepfather; all the kids call him dad

12. Q: What city does Phineas and Ferb live in?
A: Danville

13. Q: What is the name of Phineas and Ferb’s pet platypus?
A: Perry

14. Q: Who has a secret identity and what is his name?
A: Perry also known as Agent P

15. Q: Who is Agent P’s nemesis?
A: Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz

16. Q: Who is Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz’s daughter?
A: Vanessa

17. Q: Who has a crush on Vanessa?
A: Ferb

18. Q: Who is Perry’s superior officer at the SSSN?
A: Major Monogram

19. Q: What does is the SSSN?
A: Super Secret Spy Network, the top-secret organization Perry belongs to.

20. Q: Which character has a serious crush on Phineas?
A: Isabella Garcia-Shapiro

21. Q: What is Isabella’s favorite phrase?
A: Whatcha doin’?

22. Q: Finish the song lyrics “Gitchee-gitchee-goo means________________”
A: “that I love you”

23. Q: Who is the person that Candace has a crush on?
A: Jeremy Johnson

24. Q: Who is the neighborhood bully?
A: Buford

25. Q: Who is the exchange student from India?
A: Baljeet

26. Q: Who is Candace’s best friend?
A: Stacy

Grab yourself some tickets and head to the show February 3rd or 4th…. buy tickets at TicketMaster!

Phineas and Ferb Live in Denver is a post from: 100 Directions

napping

I often feel like this when working in front of my computer too!

Sometimes when I’m working, my daughter sits at the table next to me and plays on the iPad. She’ll play games, read books and watch movies. She figured out how to use the Netflix app all by herself… probably out of necessity since I didn’t stop to show her as quickly as she would have liked.

If you’re curious, that’s an iPad 2 with a Kensington KeyFolio Bluetooth Keyboard Case. I love it!

Video watching is exhausting is a post from: 100 Directions

I cook in phases. Sometimes I love cooking every day and sometimes I wish the pizza guy and Chinese delivery man would just park outside the whole week. I struggle with finding the time to make good meals, especially at times like now when I’m more worried about getting ready for a show, than making sure my kids aren’t eating McDonalds again.

A couple months ago I was watching the Food Network (yes, that is my “while I work” entertainment). Rachel Ray came on with a show I hadn’t seen before about making 5 meals in a day. I only half paid attention – I have no idea what she made, but the concept stuck. I make chili in the crock pot all day and have two crock pots… why not make two batches at once? I tried it and it worked so well that I expanded the experiment into making other things at once. Now I spend an entire day (or at least 4 hours) making food that I can use later … but much quicker.

3 crock pot buffet from Bella

The trick is to make foods that share ingredients, for example, burritos, Pasta and meat loaf all use hamburger. Or put a roast in the crock pot, set some of the cooked meat aside to eat as is with gravy and veggies, another portion to continue cooking into BBQ shredded beef and a little more for stew or enchiladas. If you focus on how many things you can make from one main ingredient, instead of a single meal at a time, you’ll be amazed at how much you can make in a little amount of time.

“All Day Cooking” might sound like a lot of time, but really, it’s not. I don’t mean 8 hours of cooking, although I have done that when I was trying to learn to make bread (complete fail for me, by the way). But think about it, if you spend an hour every day making dinner.. from prep to table… that’s at least 7 hours a week, right? And that’s assuming you’re making things that take an hour. Most meals aren’t really 30 minute meals if you’re using fresh foods. Sure, pull it out of a box and it could be 30 minutes from freezer to table… that’s why I pre-cook. Its my own made fresh to frozen food instead. I spend time doing things like cooking up hamburger that is seasoned and ready to go for multiple meals such as things like Spaghetti sauce, tacos and chili. I cut my nightly meal prep time down considerably while being able to serve home made, preservative free (or low) foods.

The other not as obvious benefit of cooking like this, I can stretch the food much further. I roasted three large chicken breasts and can break those down into 2 meals for 5 people instead of cooking up 5 chicken pieces for dinner tonight. Another example, I cooked up 8 eggs and made 10 breakfast sandwiches with them by combining with other ingredients. The goal, cook smarter.

Here’s some of what I made this week:

• Meat Loaf – don’t say it, it’s delicious! Quickest recipe ever, 1LB hamburger, 2 eggs, 2 cup Stove Top Stuffing mix (dry), 1/2 cup apple juice. Mix it together, put it in a pan, bake for at least 30 minutes at 425.  YUM!
• Mashed potatoes – great way to get rid of potatoes that are on their way out. Don’t throw the wrinkled ones away, cook them up and mash ‘em!
• Chili – using meat I pre-cooked and froze a couple weeks ago. I make a variety of chilies from white to black to red. Mix up different beans, different meats, and different spices and you have a whole variety of easy meals that are great on the budget.
• Tomato soup- I make it from scratch because then I feel like it’s really a meal. We almost always have grilled cheese sandwiches with it, but using yummy bread and a variety of cheeses. I got a grill style skillet to make them look even fancier.
• Roasted Chicken – three breasts in a pot, some onions, butter, spices and 1 cup water – I can use this for sandwiches or any recipe that calls for chicken later… not to mention all by itself with some  yummy veggies.
• Chicken and mushroom soup/stew base – I cooked more chicken with seasoning and created the soup portion. I can use this later for chicken and rice, chicken casserole, chicken and dumplings, etc.
• Burritos – using more of the same meat I put in the chili, wrap it up in tortillas with salsa, cheese, rice, beans and call it yummy.
• Breakfast sandwiches – I got eggs on sale last week so the idea was to make something I could save for later while getting the great sale price. I made up some pancakes, bacon and the eggs, sandwiched and wrapped them up and voila! It’s like I really was awake for make everyone breakfast.
• Baked potatoes – did I mention my potatoes were on the verge of rooting in the pantry and building their own colony? I had the idea of wasting food and these spuds were not pretty. However, wrap them up in a foil and bake for an hour and they are tasty as ever! these can be stored in the fridge or cut in half and frozen for later. Top them with cheese and bacon and you’ve got a tasty snack or side.

Fresh Chicken and Mushroom Soup in Glass Jars

I cheated a bit this week, I have pre-made meals still  waiting to be used in the freezer… so I’ve just added them to the list. Once you start pre-cooking, even your future pre-cooking could be shorter. I cook a ton of meat on my cooking days.. season and pre-plan what I’ll use them for, so at dinner, I’m just focusing on sides. However, I even pre-cook some sides, especially if the food needs to be used quick . This process of cooking has also allowed me to be more open minded about buying the “manager special”.. “buy it before it gets thrown out” foods, because I know I’m going to cook them up quick even if we aren’t eating them quick. Here are some of them to give you more ideas:

• Enchiladas
• Burritos
• Shredded beef
• Pulled pork
• Meat balls

If you like to grill, you can grill up a bunch of your meat in a day and store for meals later. The only thing I don’t ever cook ahead of time is fish… I imagine that would be pretty gross. You don’t need a ton of kitchen equipment to do this either. I just plan ahead what needs which pans and cook, rinse and re-use as I go along. If you don’t have a crock pot, I say get one, they’re amazing! However, you can use a casserole dish with a lid in the oven just as well.

There are a couple downsides to cooking ahead… what if what you’ve made, you’re not hungry for later? And, the house smells delicious all day and no one can have what you’ve made yet. But if that’s the worst of it, I’ll take it. Saves me from wondering what’s for dinner and gives me more time to worry other things I’d rather focus on. I’ll share some recipes later so you can try cooking ahead too.

I say, don’t be afraid to try it out. I do a lot of “throw it in the pot and see what happens” cooking. We’ve had some pretty amazing meals come of that… yes a few not-s0-good flavors too, but all in all, as a family we are exploring more flavors and discovering new things.

Cooking a week at a time, or two is a post from: 100 Directions

I love this image of a jar filled with paintbrushes. I don’t really paint often, not painting a picture type painting. I paint crafts and kids projects and sometimes something for around the house, but I don’t paint images to hang on the wall. Yet, I love the potential this jar is filled with. I could paint, I have the brushes right? They’re not fancy nor high end. They’re regular old miss matched brushes just waiting for a little color.

Every day is an opportunity to add your own splash of color ~ Jen Goode

I think that’s how every day is really. Miss matched, sometimes crazy busy and full of a billion different things to do in a gazillion different directions… just waiting for us to add our own little splash of color.

Add your own splash of color is a post from: 100 Directions

Jen Goode as seen by a 4 year old

I was digging through photos and came across this one… forgetting my 4 year old likes to run around with my camera sometimes. How do you think your kids see you?

My 4 year old’s view of me is a post from: 100 Directions

I recently had to deal with an issue that I found myself questioning whether I should stand up for myself or not. I brought up a situation I was unhappy with and instead of a line of communication resulting in better understanding, I felt like I needed to defend myself, prove myself, share the laundry list of items that were viewed incorrectly…. because my unhappiness was uncalled for and inaccurate.

Since when can another person tell us our perception of feelings are wrong? We might be incorrect in our assumptions or facts – stand up and claim responsibility for those errors. But we shouldn’t let someone else make us question what we know is right or wrong. No matter how much we want to make others happy, our own happiness comes first. How we handle what we do with our perspective is the key. How we treat others in the process is the important factor.

Hidden Rainbow in the midst of an oncoming storm

My initial thought was to write a “how dare you…”, “you have no idea what you are are saying…”, “such ignorance” — but I didn’t. Of course I didn’t, since when do I talk to people like that (Dave, don’t answer). I wanted to list off all the reasons the finger pointing was incorrect, show where the accusations and misconceptions were wrong. I wanted to correct the situation. Then I stopped myself. Why I am defending myself when I’m the one taking the time to communicate something that bothers me in the first place? Why am I the one trying to show I’m ok?

Why do we do that? Do we really need people to like us that much? Yes, yes I do… but no, really, not everyone needs to like me. It’s unfortunate if they don’t, I occasionally send treats and hugs and things to people I call friends. Not everyone is going to see things as I do – as bossy as I can be, I’m still ok with that.

What I’m not ok with is when people don’t treat each other with respect and listen to each other. There’s going to be misunderstandings, quirks in communication and differences in  perspectives. If there weren’t we might as well all be clones or robots with a single master mind – remember the  “Collective” replicators in Stargate? Because there are so many different points of view, I think we can become better people if we step out of our own bubbles and maybe (to use a cliche), step into someone else’s shoes before we snip or get frustrated or give up on someone else. You never know where they are or where they are coming from… you can only stand your own ground and live your life holding on to your integrity.

How did my situation turn out? I didn’t share the laundry list, I prevented myself from proving I’m ok. I apologized for any of my own errors and explain my meaning for things thought to be accusations. I left out any proof of what I’ve accomplished. I put my view out on the table and left it at that. I figured, if they really don’t know what I’ve accomplished and what kind of person I am, I don’t want to be in this conversation anymore anyway. I feel better for it – The end.

Struggling with integrity is a post from: 100 Directions

I was just thinking, as I follow more people on Pinterest, I’m sure I’m missing more and more content shared that I would love to see. It might seem like visual overload, but I just keep seeing so many neat things, I want to see more. However, the more people I follow, the more they pin, the more I am missing.

Do you think there will be a day there are ways to organize Pinterest followers/followees? People boards maybe?

Dear Pinterest, about organizing people I follow

Dear Pinterest, About organizing followers

I can picture it being similar to Twitter with the lists and ability to categorize people together. Right now, even Google + is based on the idea that you can’t possibly read everything from everyone, so group them together in some way to help you capture as much of the information as possible.

I’d love to see Pinterest come up with a way to organize, categorize or otherwise group followers so we can see more without having to sit right here watching all the time.

I’d love to hear what you think… would you like to be able to organize the people you follow? How would you set it up?

PS my iphone app doesn’t work… that’s a post for another day.

Organizing followers on Pinterest is a post from: 100 Directions

I’ve been sitting here for the last week in denial. Since 2006 I’ve attended Affiliate Summit this time of year. Usually I’d be packing today or tomorrow and preparing to host the Newcomer Meetup. Thousands of internet professionals will be landing in Las Vegas this weekend to attend the show. Anything and everything relating to Affiliate Marketing aka Performance Marketing, will be the focus until Wednesday. I, however, will be sitting here, hopefully accomplishing great things with my art.

This year I’m attending the Craft and Hobby Association conference in Anaheim at the end of the month. I’m exhibiting with the goal of making connections, contacts and hopefully deals licensing my art to manufacturers. Last year I tried to attend both shows and nearly lost my mind. The stress and pressure I created for myself was unbelievably ridiculous, so this year I opted to miss Vegas in trade for sitting here, sulking with my Wacom Tablet and my creativity.

Really I’m not sulking… I’m just pouting a bit. I am going to miss seeing everyone at ASW12. I always come home with a million ideas and enough newly inspired motivation to launch a rocket. I know it will be a fantastic show!

Shareasale t-shirt from Affiliate Summit

I know, sounds a bit too techy for a creative girl, right? Definitely not! Well, I take that back, affiliate marketing is techy. It is internet nerdiness at it’s best. However, there is definitely a creative side… finding unique ways to promote, link and increase sales is the first thing that comes to mind and why I love it. The industry is full of brilliant minds that are constantly coming up with new ideas and ways to grow their business, and best of all many of them do this amazing job in their pjs. How much more creative appeal does one need? I can’t be all paint and glitter, my brain needs that geeky side to balance out where the inspiration comes from. Not to mention, hanging out with real people does a world of good for the mental stability.

Things I’m going to miss attending Affiliate Summit West:

• Meeting new people from the Newcomer Program – Good luck to my buddy Daniel with QAQN who is hosting the event this year.
• Seeing some of the smartest people I know.
• Lunch – I always seem to have the best conversations and business idea sharing at the lunch table.
• The Shareasale Under the Stars party – Sunday nights are always the best time catching up with long distance friends.
• Midnight Bowling with GTO Management – super fun bowling night with proceeds going to fight breast cancer
• Discovering new merchants to connect with and reconnecting with companies I already know.
• Milkshakes with friends at 3am while brainstorming brilliant ideas.
• End of show buffet night with old and new friends. So happy Trisha is continuing the tradition!
• Schwag hunting. Yes, there’s always something fun or interesting, especially in Vegas. My kids love when I come home from this trip!

There’s a ton more to do, conversations to be had and business deals to make. If you are interested in the industry, or looking to learn more about Affiliate Marketing, I highly recommend connecting with the blogs of both Missy Ward and Shawn Collins, the founders of Affiliate Summit, and just start reading. I’ve alsowritten up a couple articles about affiliate marketing for creative professionals.

If you are attending Affiliate Summit West this week, give hugs to eachother from me, and offer to have lunch with someone new, will ya?

I’m going to miss Affiliate Summit West and all the inspiration is a post from: 100 Directions

Pinterest is fast becoming a fantastic source for both inspiration and promotion opportunities. It’s a great outlet for showing off things you love or have created yourself. I love Pinterest from the designer perspective but I can appreciate the opportunity to use Pinterest as a tool for business promotion as well.

Sample of Pinterest stream for Jen Goode and JGoode Designs

I’m not going to go too deep in the details of using pinterest as there are already some great articles out there sharing the information (see below for links). Instead I’m going to share an overview and ideas of how you can use Pinterest for both personal or business use.

At the core of Pinterest’s concept, think “pin” as in pinning something to a bulletin board on the wall in your office. Things you pin can be blog posts, articles, favorite sites, recipes, whatever. The item you actually pin is a photo from the url you are wanting to save. You pin these items to “boards” which represent groupings of pins.  So you can create categories and save all kinds of things in whatever groupings you’d like and then share with anyone. Let’s dig a little deeper…

The key is the image. Sharing ideas via visuals is an amazing source for creativity. Each image shares something different for different people, so with Pinterest you can “pin”, basically save, an image to whatever grouping you deem appropriate. When you pin an image, the web address associated with that image is tacked on, the association of image to url is included wherever that pin goes. This url/image combo is the key especially for marketing. It’s one thing to save an image to share with friends… we’ve been doing it for years via Flickr, Facebook, etc. However, when someone shares images, usually the url doesn’t follow so our images end up all over the place with no real record of where they came from. Through Pinterest images and their original url travel along happily. This makes it easy for viewers to locate the original content associated with the image… brilliant!

When thinking of “boards”, envision a cork bulletin board with thumbtacks holding various notes, photos and other items all in place. This is similar in concept to Pinterest. You can create “boards”, which are like groups or categories, organized however you like. Then when you “pin” an image, you choose a board to tie it to. Group images together however you like, by theme, subject matter, color, whatever you want. My favorite board for my own account is called “Color me happy”, I pin images of color that inspire happiness for me.

You can pin the same image to multiple boards (creating a new pin each time). You can also add notes when you create a new pin. Tag another user in the notes to call attention or give credit to other users. There really is no limit on how you can save images in your personal catalog.

The image/url combination adds great value because you now know where the image is from and hopefully can easily reference whatever else is relevant. When combined with your ability to group images, you can essentially catalog ideas and information in a visual format while guiding people to the information they are really looking for.

You can also interact with other users of Pinterest. Build a network of followers or follow other’s boards. You can choose to follow all boards, a sampling of only some of the boards or a single board of a user. You can “like” pins from others and you can also “repin” pins from others. Repinning is my favorite feature. “Repinning” gives the opportunity to not only share what others are pinning, but to see who shares things you’ve shared. You can also follow the stream of pins that your followers/friends have saved. Then comment on pins, comment on your own pins or pins shared by others, which in turn is shared with your friends as you go.

So go forth, pin and be merry!

Pinterest takes the concept of “a picture is worth a thousand words” to the next level. Share images and share what they mean to you, how they are important to you and why you want to save them, then let your friends, fans and followers do as they will with the photos, sharing in their own unique directions. This is taking social interaction to an even more intimate level. It’s amazing to see how many different places the same image can go and how different people hold dear their differences… together.

Whether you use pinterest for personal use or want to use it to promote something, just remember that visuals are much more intimate and special. Pinterest users value their pins and boards and don’t want to see a bunch of spammy image sharing. Add great visuals that will inspire something special and you’re sure to find others will love what you pin as much as you do.

More great Pinterest related infos:

Pinterest Beginners Guide from Mashable

Pinterest : a beginner’s guide from Sorta Crunchy

Loving Pinterest and how to use it is a post from: 100 Directions

This is my husband’s all time favorite cookie so we always make sure to we make a batch or 3 during the holidays. Magic Cookie Bars are an easy recipe for kids to help with as there is no detailed mixing involved. You can add in your own favorite chip flavors, however, I haven’t tried it yet without nuts, so I’m not sure if you can make a good nut free version or not.

Magic Cookie Bars

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Butter, melted
• 1 1/2 cup Vanilla Waffers or Graham cracker, crumbs
• 1 can (14 oz) Sweetened condensed milk
• Coconut flakes
• Chopped nuts (we use walnuts)
• 1/2 cup Chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup Peanut butter chips
• 1/2 cup White Chocolate chips
• 9×12″ glass baking dish

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Pour melted butter into baking dish and spread evening.
3. Put graham crackers or vanilla wafers in food processor until they are fine crumbs, sprinkle over melted butter in dish.
4. Layer remaining ingredients evenly dish: sweetened condensed milk, coconut, nuts, chips, coconut, chips.
5. Press down firmly to pack ingredients.
6. Bake for 25 minutes or until lightly brown.
7. Let cool at least 1 hour, cut into bars.

Tips: I like to use parchment paper on top of the ingredients when I am pressing down into the pan. Also, I prefer to let cool on the counter over night before cutting. Storing at room temperature works best for us.

Magic Cookie Bars is a post from: 100 Directions