The Lifestylist® kitchen has been busy lately! We are adding a recipe section to our new website so there are lots of recipe testings and food photography shoots going on. My garden is starting to have some herbs to harvest, and our farmers market just had the first tomatoes of the season.

This week we got to test a wonderful Healthy Eating Tool made by OXO – their Good Grips Salad Spinner. We posted our review here.

 OXO has not only sent one of these super salad spinners to me to try out, they have also sent us another one that I can give away to one of my lucky readers. All you have to do is visit our Lifestylist Food Blog and enter. There will also be some ways that you can earn extra chances to win including “liking” the OXO and LifeStyleList Facebook pages. The contest will run through May 11th 2012, and if the winner doesn’t respond to us within 24 hours of being notified we will choose another winner.

You need to be a resident of the US and over 18 yrs. old to enter. This contest has no affiliation with Facebook. OXO provided the two salad spinners to us at no charge, and the opinions are our own.

The Wall Street Journal printed a great article about how more people are considering this type of construction of their next home.

One of the questions I always get asked is exactly what is a Lifestylist®, and what is unique about the Lifestylist® Lifestyle. The second most asked question is what makes me a Trailer Diva!

The Lifestylist philosophy is about “Life Celebrating Style”. Our clients life and style is what dictates how a Lifestylist® works with you. My favorite example is I had a client in Phoenix, Arizona that was a major Phoenix Suns fan, and their team colors are orange and purple. The client wanted their entire home done in these colors. What they wanted is what they got, complete with a child’s room with a hardwood floor striped like a basketball court. They wanted to stylishly celebrate their interests and love of their home team and we did!

I just spoke to a friend who’s dog just dug up their entire garden and her daughter slammed the door on the neighbor’s hand – all in about 30 minutes time. Her needs and lifestyle are completely different from my son – no kids, no dogs, and lives in front of his computer. What my style is wouldn’t work well for either of them which is why I need to understand the client and what their “hot buttons” are. It’s takes extra time and sleuthing to achieve this – many times the client has trouble putting into words exactly what they are looking for but they know it when they see it. I take the responsibility very seriously – a person’s environment can truly change their lives in a positive or negative way. If someone is happy in their home their quality of life improves.

Next to being a mother, becoming a Lifestylist® is one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done. I’m looking forward to expanding the concept and what it offers in the years to come. – we will be launching a new food line this Spring!

We just got back from The International Builders Show and there were so many great things to see and do it’s going to take me weeks to catch up! I like having those types of problems though, and after attending the show and having the rare opportunity to hear Ben Bernanke speak about true solutions that can help the building industry, I’m optimistic about what lies ahead.

One of my favorite seminars this year was hosted by the NAHB 20 Club Program which I think is one of the most important groups in the NAHB. Twenty non-competitive builders make up a group that gets together a few times a year to be open about their different business practices and share their successes and opportunities. Thermador is a major sponsor of this group and their participation has helped to make this program a vital resource for builders. They have made their amazing culinary center available for the 20 Club meetings and have been very supportive in every way possible.

David Riedman – President of Riedman Development and @home Builders has been a member of one of these groups for years, and he has always raved about how important they have been to the growth of his company. He was gracious enough to take time out of his very hectic schedule and share how this group has helped him. He was joined by three other panelists that are also very active, and are very successful in spite of the housing downturn. I think that says a lot for the value of these groups.

Being involved in his local Home Builders Association (he is a past president), the 20 Club and now having more of a national presence is one of the reasons @home Builders is so respected in the Rochester and Western New York housing markets.

If you would like to obtain a copy of his speech and find out more about the 20 Club program, it is available on MobilTape here.

This year Peter Brown – celebrated author and illustrator of books that appeal to the kid in all of us attended. Not only did he introduce 2 films that were made of his books,but he also gave everyone in the audience a copy of “You Will Be My Friend”. We all read the book together, then Peter autographed them for the kids.

Having the opportunity to volunteer at amazing events such as this are the reason I love being on the board for The USA Film Festival. It’s a group I’ve been involved with for years, and seeing families being able to enjoy quality events like this one make it very rewarding.

If you live in the Dallas area you should look into becoming a member of this amazing organization. They have special screenings many with guests in attendance all year long, and being a member gives you the chance to get tickets to many of these sold out events before the general public. For more information give them a call at: 214-821-3456.

As some of you know our motto has always been “It’s All About You”. As part of that, we love reading and hearing about your experiences and sharing great sites we find that can help you on your journey.

Our Home Improvements is one of those sites. It’s full of real life stories and information than can help you incorporate great design while save money on your next project. The author shares experiences he has had while renovating an older urban home in Cheverly, MD. Steven is also an animal lover and has some really fun ideas on how to incorporate their needs into his remodeling.

Take a look and let us know what you think. And if you have a blog or website we should know about we’d love to hear about it!

In a dusty corner at my local Walmart I found my solution – a 10′ x 12′ tarp with handles sewn into the sides! This was a product I could do some damage with. Fortunately the leaves were still dry, and by using a large carabiner that I found at The Container Store I was able to complete the job in under 2 hours! Our rescue dog Jack isn’t very happy that I took his leaves away, but I assured him there would be more soon.

If you can’t find this very cool tarp near you, try just feeding some rope through some of the grommets in a traditional tarp that you can then gather up the corners with. You’ll be amazed how much time this will save you.

The first destination for me when I’m trying to get my travel reservations in order is Travelocity. This has been such a great time saver for me, and I’ve discovered really cool hotels I never would have known (or Gnome) about without their help. I was fortunate enough to spend some quality time with that cute little guy sporting the pointy red at the past few years at Savor Dallas, and he shared some great tips with me.

One of the best ways to save is to book everything together on their site. Not only can it save you money, it’s easier to keep up with to have your reservations  all in one place.

Thanks to their help, I discovered what I consider the best travel deal I’ve ever found. I needed a last minute room in the Tampa Bay area so I looked on Travelocity to see what I could find, and there it was – The Postcard Inn. Right on the beach, cool and funky, and amazing restaurant, Snack Shack and bar right on site, and under $75.00 a night! I liked it so much my daughter and grandkids joined me there to celebrate my birthday.

The next time you are thinking about heading out of town and experience something different, try Travelocity and trust their suggestions. Hopefully you’ll be able to find your own Postcard Inn to enjoy.

Seth Godin is my guru. He is so no nonsense but funny at times, intellectual but down to earth, and what I really love about him is that he can get a point across faster than anyone else I know. His Purple Cow book started me on a new road to being more involved in marketing and social media so I’m forever grateful. When I worked on the Purple Cow House Campaign with Patriot Homes I made sure to get permission from Mr. Godin, and we credited him for the phrase (and gave out his Purple Cow Book).

Today I got a great post from him titled “Simple Thoughts About Fair Use“. So timely, and as always so well written. In this new blogging, social world I’m always stunned to see how many people are using other people’s photography, ads, brands, and stories without permission. This article is a must read for anyone who is even thinking about posting on Facebook, Twitter, or a blog and using someones text or images.

I’m fortunate enough to have access to a very talented photographer – Lisa Stewart of Lisa Stewart Photography. The images you see in my blogs, on my Lifestylist Design Facebook page and on my website have been shot specifically for my use. I do that so I’m not using other people’s work and having copyright infringements.

Lifestylist® is a term that I successfully trademarked in 2002 – my registration number is 2583235. I’m very proud of this because I thought I had a good idea and made the extra effort do “do the right thing” and spend the time, effort, and money to trademark it. You would be amazed at how much time I’ve had to spend since them protecting my mark because people haven’t bothered to do their homework and see that it’s trademarked before they use it in their own businesses.

Before you decide that you have discovered the next great phrase, or “borrow” a photo from someone else be sure to read Seth’s post. Wondering where to learn more about these topics? The US Patent and Trademark Office has a great site, and it is also where you can search trademark registrations and applications.

Yesterday I was lucky enough to have dinner with the very dynamic Geri Higgins – CEO and President of Portfolio Kitchen and Home in Kansas City. Her beautiful new flagship store is a destination, and she is a wonderful role model for business owners everywhere.

One of the things I love about Geri is her attitude. She is always positive and motivating, and having the chance to share my ideas and dreams with her about my business got me even more excited about the opportunities I have in front of me. Geri never looks at things as problems or comes up with 100 objections as to why something won’t work, she sees these as opportunities and actually gets excited about what can be accomplished and comes up with a plan to make things happen.

As a Lifestylist® I deal with a very diverse group of clients – both companies and individuals. When teams or management have objections to every new idea or opportunity no good changes will ever happen. But if they are opening to looking at issues as an opportunity and seeing how they can become a growth area, then you have a company or individual that will succeed and flourish.

So I have a new Lifestylist® goal: instead of looking for excuses and objections as to why I can’t find the time to exercise, or get my office organized I’m going to take Geri’s lead and tackle things head on. I really did start on my office and unearthed this photo of myself mountain climbing in Tucson. I arrived at the top and sunset and it was spectacular. Climbing straight up a mountain on the end of a rope was one of the most frightening but exciting things I’ve ever done – I just had to stop thinking about all of the reasons I couldn’t do it and get out there and give it a try.

Here’s to a new year filled with opportunities!