14 Awesome Things I’m Sweet On in February 2015

In honor of Valentine’s Day, the heart-shaped cactus in my garden inspired me to limit 14 Awesome Things I’m Sweet On in February 2015 to fourteen!  Isn’t that a fantastic quirk of nature?  I walk out to my cactus and succulent garden on a sunny “winter” day in Southern California and there they were – almost as tall as me!  I don’t know why I didn’t notice them earlier; maybe they took their heart shape overnight?  Overnight Valentine cactus shape-shifters?

I’m going to state the obvious here – bloggers love to read blogs.  I bet you most bloggers became a blogger because they were inspired by other bloggers and thought to themselves, “I want to do that; I can do that!”  That’s why I became a blogger; you can read that story here:  2 Girls with an Idea.

I read a lot of blogs (as opposed to books these days) and am always coming across wonderful things, fantastic things, charming things, delicious things that I want to share with readers.  Normally, I just provide a link to the other blogger’s post with a brief description why, you as a reader, should click that link and read that post.  This past month, I did something different – I stepped outside of my comfort zone and contacted those bloggers.

I contacted them to ask them if I could use one of their photos to illustrate this post.  I did this because photos on the internet are not up for grabs.  People think that if it’s on the internet than it’s available to use, freely.

And that simply isn’t true.

Photographs belong to the people who took the photo and are “copyrighted” unless otherwise stated.  As is the written word.

There is lots of information out there about copyright laws.  If you are interested in learning more, just Google search “photo copyrights”, “photography copyrights” and “Creative Commons license.”

Anyway, I stepped outside of my comfort zone, reached out to fellow bloggers and guess, what?

They all said “yes”!

#1 Awesome Thing I’m Sweet On in February 2015:

Dana from This Silly Girl’s Life.  I discovered Dana through a linky party (more about that below).  I loved her site and decided to reach out to her and ask her questions about certain parts of her site.  And, she answered me!

{PHOTO SOURCE:  This Silly Girl’s Life}

Not only did she give me solid information about the things I asked, she has “adopted” me as her pet project to help me take my blog to the next level.  She has been open, honest, frank with her critiques and most importantly, exceedingly generous with her time. Bloggers are extremely busy people (there is a lot of moving parts in running and operating a blog) and dare I say it…food bloggers, especially.  Because on top of writing a blog post, a food blogger has to cook the food, “style” the food for a photo shoot, take the photos and edit the photos, all before writing the post and including the recipe!

So, thank you, Dana, for everything you have shared with me and for your generosity of spirit!  You are the best!

BTW – Dana is a former chef turned food blogger and her photography is amazing!  Aren’t those Mini Lemon Meringue Pies gorgeous?

The rest of the remaining 14 Awesome Things I’m Sweet On in February 2015 are in no particular order of importance.  They are all great and besides, it’s too much pressure to label them with a number to indicate importance!

{PHOTO SOURCE:  The Pin Junkie}

Bonnie, The Pin Junkie, made these adorable tomato hearts!  How clever!  I found her through a linky party, too.

{PHOTO SOURCE:  So Domestically Challenged}

Christine at So Domestically Challenged, wrote “Are You a Hoarder?  The 5 Levels of Hoarding” – an eye-opening, hugely valuable post about an all too common problem. I’ve personally wrestled with the idea that I might have some hoarder tendencies, because we have several Depression Era family members who are hoarders.  Hoarding is a form of OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) with its own sub-type, OCD-Hoarding, and is thought to be genetic.

Anyway, after reading Christine’s well-written post, I was relieved to learn that I’m not!  I’m in the “Green”!  We have broken the family hoarding curse!  Plus, I found her through a linky party.

{PHOTO SOURCE:  Ten at the Table}

Maria Alison at Ten at the Table is hysterical…I found myself giggling as I read her Easy Hot Artichoke Dip post.  Plus, it sounds delicious.  Found her via linky party.

{PHOTO SOURCE:  Bitz & Giggles}

I’m pretty sure I’m addicted to potato chips.  I try not to buy them too often, but the next time I break down and buy a bag (to make Gail’s Potato Chip Cookies, of course!), I’m going to make Sara’s Chicken & Potato Chip Casserole!  It looks so creamy and delicious and I know I won’t be able to resist the potato chip topping!  Fun fact:  it has been pinned over 31,000 times!  Ditto:  linky party.

{PHOTO SOURCE:  The Summery Umbrella}

Tiffany!  Are you reading this?  I want to make these signs and attach them to that giant Sycamore tree in our backyard!  You help me and I’ll help you make it happen in your yard, too!  Thanks, Liz at The Summery Umbrella, for the inspiration.  Too.cute.for.words! Guess what?  Linky party.

{PHOTO SOURCE:  Budget Girl}

Chelsey, DIY Budget Girl, wrote this very interesting post – How I More Than Doubled My Page View in 2 Months.  While it is very long, if you are a blogger (or contemplating becoming a blogger), it is SO.WORTH.THE.READ!  I’ve read it twice and I’m sure I’ll re-read it again and again because Toot Sweet 4 Two has hobbled along for more than a year now at approximately the same traffic (visitor) numbers.

While visitors are holding steady, the numbers are not increasing.  In the blogging world, “traffic” correlates to increased revenue via advertising income and/or affiliate opportunities and/or sponsored post opportunities.  So, growth is important.

Intrigued with how she did it, I read her post carefully and decided to give her method a go.  That’s how I became involved with linky parties, which is her number one (out of 10 great tips) tip for growth.

For readers who are not bloggers and are uninitiated in “linky parties,” a blogger or multiple bloggers “hosts” a link party on her/their blogs, allowing other bloggers to add a photo and a link to their particular blog post. Similar to adding a pin to Pinterest (which is one giant link party!).

Link parties are “win-wins” for everyone involved:

• They drive more traffic to the host site.
• They add links to the host site.
• They drive traffic to the participant’s site.
• They add useful comments to the participant’s site (bloggers who drop by a blog via a link party leave a comments – we bloggers are suckers for feedback and love comments!).
• And, they provide a “round-up” area for both bloggers and non-bloggers (readers/visitors) to have the opportunity to “discover” other blogs and bloggers, as I did this month.
• Plus, many link parties “Feature” posts the next week, based on appeal, popularity, etc. (whatever parameters the host decides).  Being “Featured” drives more traffic to your blog plus makes you feel warm and fuzzy!

In the first month of participating in several linky parties, I was featured 8 times!  My Sweetheart Strawberry Salad with Blushing Berry Dressing was “Featured” on 3 different linky party sites!

Sweetheart Strawberry Salad with Blushing Berry Dressing was featured on:

• Awesome Life Friday
• Freedom Fridays
• Show Me Saturday

Thanks so much to all of these generous hosts!

Here are the other five posts that were “Featured” in the months of January/February:

5 Life Lessons from Dogs was featured on Hump Day Happenings – thank you, Heather!

21 Great Dips and Appetizers for Super Bowl Sunday was featured on Saturday Dishes – thank you, Marissa!

Leftover Turkey and Rice Casserole was also featured on Saturday Dishes – thank you, Marissa!  Marissa has a “theme” every week, so it’s fun to check in with her to see the latest theme!

Make-ahead Freezer French Toast was featured on Tasty Tuesday – thank you, Mrs. New!

Razzle Dazzle Skillet Dump Cake was featured on Wake Up Wednesday – thank you, Angel!

I’m so grateful to all of you!

And, while this post has not been featured (yet) on any linky party, I’m sweet on it:

Easy Party Glitter Cups – love these!

When you join a linky party, the hosts have “rules”.  Normally, one of the “rules” is that the participant display the blog’s linky party button somewhere on their site AND provide a link to the particular linky party in the body of the post.  I’ve created a separate “Linky Party Central” page that lives in my Menu Bar.  Please “pardon the dust” because this page is still “under construction”, but on this page you will find links to the linky parties in which I participate.

Also, at the bottom of each post, the ones linked to linky parties, readers will notice an ever-growing list of parties, with links to those particular parties.

Anyway, I’m loving the process and working Chelsey’s (DIY Budget Girl) strategy!

Last, but not least, one of the 14 Awesome Things I’m Sweet On in February 2015 is Pinterest.  Pinterest is a consistent driver of referral traffic to my blog and I’m grateful.  This was exciting to me:

This means that in that particular week in February, my Coffee Banana Protein Smoothie pin drove 396 visitors to my site.  This recipe is either the NUMBER ONE or Number Two most viewed post on my site (it competes monthly with Peach Pineapple Dump Cake, so it varies).  To date, Coffee Banana Protein Smoothie has been pinned 4,807 times (which is huge for this small blog) and has driven 16,143 visitors to my site (it does well in Google organic search results, too)!

I got this email from Pinterest a few days ago.  This is HUGE for me – a gigantic leap in activity!  And, this is all thanks to Dana, for her Pinterest advice.  Obviously, her strategy works!  Thanks Dana; you are the best!

And, finally, another picture of my Valentine cactus hearts!  Just to show my readers more love…because you, too, are one of the 14 Awesome Things I’m Sweet On in February 2015!

Tootles,

Related Posts:

(other Awesome Things I’m Sweet On posts)

• 21 Awesome Things I’m Sweet on in April 2014
• 18 Awesome Things I’m Sweet on in May 2014
• 26 Awesome Things I’m Sweet on in June 2014
• 19 Awesome Things I’m Sweet on in July 2014
• 15 Awesome Things I’m Sweet on in August 2014
• 17 Awesome Things I’m Sweet on in September 2014
• 12 Awesome Things I’m Sweet on in October 2014
• 6 Awesome Things I’m Sweet on in December 2014
• 15 Awesome Things I’m Sweet on in January 2015