Years ago I used to host a Girlfriend Gala every December.  It was a very fun event that I looked forward to each year because of all the smart women in one place at the same time, letting their hair down and inspiring each other.

The following guest post was written by Julie Frans, Co-owner of Dining Details, the featured gourmet caterer for the upcoming January 21st event, The 4th Annual Making The Most of Your Personal Strategy New Year Kickoff.  Julie also owns Chickpeas, which provides nutritious school lunches for growing children.  You can follow Julie on Twitter.

Julie is a member of Six Figure Moms Club.  I’m proud to know her and to have the opportunity to learn from her as another working mother following her dreams and working through the challenges every day.  Thank you Julie for sharing this wonderful post with us.  May you find everything you always wanted…that’s not already right in front of you.

Psssst….!!! It’s my birthday the week of  November 1st.

So What? Right?

Well the week is so full of great things that you just have to know about them!  I’m one of those people who believes that you should always celebrate your birthday and that if you want to have a good party…throw one for yourself.  However, this year, three great folks are having terrific events during my birthday week.  And you know what?  They really have almost nothing to do with me and absolutely everything to do with you guys.  Both of the following events are so good that you won’t want to miss them!

Because many of you working mothers have asked me about my love of social media,  I wanted to send out a quick post about Blog World & New Media Expo.

Some of you might remember that last year I attended Blog World Expo.  If you are at all interested in learning about how social media strategy can help your businesses at warp speed, then this is the conference for you.  It is the essence of drinking from the firehose.

Today I was driving down to Encinitas, Ca for a speaking engagement when I looked over at the Beach and realized how lucky I really am.  It had to be one of the most beautiful days I’ve seen at the beach in a long while.  I don’t live by the ocean, but I do see the beach at least once each week.

I presented to the Encinitas Coastal Rotary Club on social media for my company Square Martini Media.  (Thanks to Katherine Wichmann Zacharias for the invitation)!  Afterward, I was answering questions with a few folks but my mind was wandering as I gazed over their shoulders out the window into the ocean.  I had one thing on my mind-DOLPHINS.

Thinking Small Serves No One. Period.

I could quit there and let you find your own meaning. I think you’d find inspiration in that one liner today.  However, that’s not likely why you stop by this blog, huh?

I spoke at three events last week (NAWBO, eWomen’s Network Head-to-Toe Expo Luncheon, and Six Figure Moms Club).  Almost every time I address a group, I get more in return than I give because there’s always at least one person who says something fantastic that inspires me more than they can even imagine.  Let me take this opportunity to say “Thank You” to all of you that are so wonderful.

I’ve been trying to write a blog post all day that isn’t so personal but now I’m conceding.  I’m a writer who writes what I’m feeling so hopefully you’ll humor me.  If not, come back next time

According to Wordpress, my mom left the following comment on this blog on March 26, 2009 at 1:54 am.

“Great post, I totally agree, positive ‘me’ time is a must!”

She was responding to my post Why Do We Avoid What We Know We Need Most?

You know you’re starving for a recharge when you drink it in like it’s a $5 Pulp Fiction milkshake.

I had so much work to do on my flight from San Diego to Houston but as a working mother doing double duty, I’d been jumping from one deadline to the next for weeks.  When I saw the in-flight movie preview, I felt a strong, undeniable pull to watch.  It seemed the best thing I could do for my sanity (and that of everyone around me) was pay some respect to work life balance, buy a headset, sit back and unwind.  After all, this is precious time on a plane, alone, no internet access, no cell phones allowed, no twitter (sorry friend).

My BFF, Shelley Swisher, always knew I’d be a broadcast journalist and she was right!

On April 8, I’ll be live on the air with two internet radio shows on www.wsradio.com. The first show is about entrepreneurism and the second show is….you guessed it, Twitter Talk Radio!

It’s my great honor to co-host a show about small business owners with Rieva Lesonsky.  Rieva is truly amazing.  She is a small business expert and she writes, speaks and helps small businesses all over the country.  We’ll be interviewing successful entrepreneurs and experts and talking about three major themes:

This is the longest stretch I’ve ever gone without posting to my blog and I’ve missed you guys.  Where do I start?  Everyday I think about a blog post I’d like to write but time just passes by. What I need most is to clone myself.  I know you all know what I mean.  The days of a working mother are crazy during normal times but throw any wrench into the daily routine and everything goes haywire. We’ve had a few wrenches at my house in the past few weeks.