Sacramento Area: Festival de la Familia Celebrates 21 Years Sunday April 29th

 

 Festival de la Familia Celebrates 21 Years in 2012

Join the Celebration of Latino Culture!

Sunday April 29th, 2012 (last weekend in April)
10:00 AM to 6:00 PM
CalExpo – 1600 Exposition Blvd, Sacramento, CA 95815

Festival de la Familia offers a wide range of family friendly, safe events.
This annual multi-ethnic Festival celebrates more than 20 Latino cultures.

• Feast on the many Latin flavors and savory dishes
• View colorful arts and crafts – or create your own
• Shop at the open-air Mercado
• Enjoy the extensive art exhibits
• Listen and dance to the rhythms of genuine Latin music
• Study educational exhibits depicting Latin heritage
• Get involved in community outreach opportunities

Admission Cost:

• General admission $10
• Seniors $7
• Children 12 and under are free

You can purchase tickets in advance here

This year we will be attending the Festival. We are excited since we have not attended this event before. So many things happen in our own backyard and we miss out on it. I look forward to the music, the food, the art and dancing and so much more. So glad I went to the CalExpo website and read about it. (CalExpo is also the place my husband and I went on our first date, its a special place for us!)

You can find out more about the Festival on their facebook and twitter pages.  

Shoes, Shoes and SHOES!

I like the yellows and blues this year. Love the yellow bag too.

I have been very obsessed with shoes lately. All the new colors and styles are making me in a shoe frenzy! I love how a great pair of shoes can make a normal outfit look awesome. It can be one of the places I go wild with color and style. But of course they have to comfortable too. Carrying around a wild toddler everywhere I go my shoes need to be cute and functional. I am so excited about the shoes we will be reviewing and giving away. After all its Mother's Day just around the corner so I will use it as my reason to need lots and lots of SHOES!! ( hint hint to my husband to have our son get me a shoe store gift card if you are reading this)

Right now is a great time to buy boots! Lots of discounts if your a bargain hunter like me.

Help Kids Get Active With Odwalla Juice & Champions for Kids

I think that one of the most important things that children should be encouraged to do is to get physical exercise. Childhood obesity is a serious health risk for so many kids today and it is really up to us as a nation to do something about it.

So I was very honored and pleased to be participating in this month's Simple Service Project with Champions for Kids and Odwalla Juice.

This month's project is all about getting kids outside to play, run, be active and enjoy themselves and the outdoors. Odwalla Juice and smoothies add to an active lifestyle for kids and adults with their healthy and delicious drinks.

I went shopping at Walmart to find play equipment to donate to a charity that helps children. Balls, jump ropes, paddle ball games and more are all things that kids love to play with and helps them to be active. I also bought Odwalla Juice to donate. I love the company's Do-Good philosophy and love drinking their juice and smoothies too!

I told my neighbors that I was working with Champions for Kids and all about my service project. One of them generously gave me these three almost new bike helmets for kids. I know how important the helmets are to prevent head injuries, so I was thrilled to get them to donate.

Last month I also participated in a Simple Service Project and donated food and personal items to the Kingston Food Bank here in Washington State.

This is a wonderful organization that is directed by Barb Fulton and her staff of volunteers. Barb is a warm and gracious woman and an instant friend. I knew she would be able to help me find a place to take my donations. She said she would find me a couple of places but if they didn't work out, the food bank could always use the play equipment and juices.

This is when I remembered seeing how they donated much more than food to the community. They help with clothing, they help parents provide babies and children with things they need, and they provide for the community in every way that they can. I absolutely knew that this is where I would make my donation.

Here is Barb with my donation of play equipment and Odwalla Juice. Barb's parents started the food bank 55 years ago, and the community has been helped by it ever since. I am so happy that my donation will help the kids to have some fun and get healthier.

Thanks Champions For Kids and Odwalla Juice! Thanks also to Barb Fulton and the Kingston Food Bank for all the good you do. #OdwallaCFK

If you'd like to participate in a Simple Service Project, go to Champions for Kids for all the information
To learn more about Champions for Kids and how you can get involved in a Simple Service Project, visit their website, Facebook and Twitter pages.



You can see my shopping trip to Walmart for kids sport activity supplies and Odwalla juice by reading my Google+ story.

I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™.
All opinions expressed in this shop are my own and your experience may vary. #Cbias #OdwallaCFK

The Barefoot Executive Book Review

The Barefoot Executive: The Ultimate Guide for Being Your Own Boss by Carrie Wilkerson

I have been an entrepreneur since I was a kid. We had kool aid stands, yard sales, magazine sales and for a time I sold candy to other kids in class, bad I know lol.  I have always had the desire to work for myself, to be my own boss. Its a trait that runs in my family. As an adult I have had a few online shopping sites, did catalog sales and all the home party sales you can think of. I always seemed to not be happy with what is was I was doing since it was not profitable. I have learned so much from reading the book Barefoot Executive: The Ultimate Guide for Being Your Own Boss by Carrie Wilkerson.

Carrie's book is an eye opener about how to think about being your own boss. I love how she says "get passionate about getting to the place of profitability". I think that has been a road block for me in the past with my business adventures. I tried to do stuff that I "liked" rather than what would be profitable. She explains how you need to have a good business base then expand on other ideas. Since without a steady income from one place you cannot have the funds to create other business. Its not a stuffy do this do that kind of book. Its more casual allowing you to take what you can from it and apply it to your life. Its more like a journal since there is places to write in and reflect on your own situation. I like that you can flip around in the book reading what pertains to your life.

Chapter 13 on Information Marketing was helpful to me. I was a good reminder to ask myself questions about what I am trying to market and the avenues to use. Its basic but can encourage you to think more and do more about it. A good book does just that, gets you to take action with the information you are given rather than just reading it and being done.

At the end of each chapter is a Barefoot Action Steps section that gives you a link to a video and a case study example of the topic the chapter covered. I found this very helpful to see a video and read a story, it gave the chapter topic more of a real life feel rather than just info.

I am working on my business / marketing degree so I found this to be a great book to read, but its also such an easy read that if you have a craft business, a blog or at home business this is a great book to read.

You can buy Carrie Wilkerson's book The Barefoot Executive at most mass retailers like Walmart and Target. Also online at Amazon and Books A Million.



 * I was not paid or compensated for this post. I was sent a free copy of this book for my review from Living Your Moment to review. The opinions are 100% mine and may vary from others.

Let's Support the Small Businesses in Our Neighborhoods

It is no secret that I am a fan of Starbucks. The original Starbucks is practically in my own backyard, so to speak. So I do spend my money there.

This picture is of a coffee house in Seattle, in the Capital Hill Area, which is a really great neighborhood. It's an independent small business. I have never been in there, but my daughter goes there a lot and she really likes it. The next time I'm on Capital Hill, I'm going to go there too.

I had a wake up call the other day that made me realize we have to spend our money on the small businesses in our neighborhoods if we want them to survive.

A beloved bookstore in my area had a 25% off sale the other day. While this may not sound like big news, it was because they have never done this before. And it scared me because I saw it as an indication that they might be in trouble. I hope not.

I know times are still hard, and every dollar we save is sometimes absolutely needed to just survive. But if you can, spend your dollars in your neighborhood and support those wonderful small places that are run by people and not just corporations.

I promise you'll feel good about it.