The Fast Way to NOT Get Invited to the Disney Conference Inspired by Disney's Iconic Villains

Photo Disney world

And so the magic happened again. When the lovely Leanne Jakubowski O'Regan tweeted a "coded" tweet on a particular time of the year, everyone paid attention. You paid attention. Then your next move was to call on all the gods of Disney you may happen to know and fervently prayed that they'll bless you with a pixie dusted email. Beyond that point, you started to stalk your email. It was a feat to be patient. But you have no choice but to be. Afterall, there is only one Tinkerbell spreading all the pixie dusts. Also, navigating through the ethernet to make sure you get the magical invite does takes a bit of work. To the lucky ones, this is an auspicious time. A time for great celebration. It may even drive them bonkers with excitement, apprehension and delight.

I should know this. I've experienced this exhilarating emotions 3 times. It's the happiest kind of bonkers you'll ever feel.

However, there's always that flip side to every happy event. The Yang to the Yin. The dark side to the light. The evil Darth Vader to Anakin Skywalker. You get the picture. It simply brings the wickedness in others and all the crazies seem to come out of the woodwork all at once. The unlucky ones.

If you're vying (or dying) to get invited to the most coveted Disney conference, here's a nugget of wisdom for you. Don't be a sourpuss! 

Heartbreak #1: Don't Trust Your Fans and Followers Count

Let's admit it. Across the board, blogger or entrepreneur, it brings us joy when we see our followers count grow! Who doesn't? We identify it as an integral measure of our "growth". Thus, we end up obsessing over the numbers to a point that when we lose followers by any form or fashion, it cuts us like a knife and it affects us emotionally. But I say STOP, right there, right now! Wasting precious energy sulking and whining about it ain't worth it! When you lose followers, think of this - It has nothing to do with you, it's them!

Sounds so cliche' doesn't it? An overused line that we'd politely say, or receive, when we are dumping someone, or tragically, being dumped! Though in this case, I simply can't agree more. Yes! It's them and not you! 

YOU are Worth Melting For

Thank you for being a part of Zensible Mama through the years. Happy Thanksgiving!

Facebook Finally Gives Bloggers Freedom to Promote Or Maybe?

Facebook recently revised their Promotion Guidelines which obviously made a lot of [us] happy! To me, this is more of "a sigh of relief". No more confusion. No more fear that you're violating a (vague, highly debated) TOS. And best of all, no more Blogger police gnawing on the heels of your giveaway ethics! Brilliant, right? Yes. But there's a catch. There's a limitation to the new term and you should not be caught unawares.

Husband Reveals Secrets: 4 Tips For The Care, Feeding and Support of your Bloggy Wife

Editor's Note: My husband has finally broken his silence and is revealing his greatest secrets {maybe dishing me out a bit here}. He's got the bloggy wife described to a tee but I should say, he is my number one fan and my greatest supporter! I urge ALL you husbands out there to READ and LEARN. And you, BLOGGY WIVES, make sure your husbands read this! 

True as it gets...

Top 5 Must-Have Resolutions To Start Your BLOG Right in 2013

If you think that blogs don't need resolutions, think again. Trust me. After visiting a few many blogs today, I reckon a lot of us do! Make that very crucial that they do! We all want our blogs to be reader and visitor-friendly and yet I don't understand why some blog owners makes it miserably hard for us to navigate their blogs. Yes, I'm totally biatching here. You would too if you were in my shoes today.

Thank. Give. Inspire. Friday: Thankful for Friendships

WHY it's TGIF!
TGIF was conceived while I was in the potty. I. know. Eww as it may sound, it's the only place where I can really THINK...in peace. You know this! Having kids can be... a little too chaotic. Hiding in the potty is sometimes the best sanctuary. So, yes the idea came to me while *insert your guesses here* and pondering about Thanksgiving and voila!  It's Friday. And each Friday, I kept saying TGIF. Why not give TGIF a new meaning? As you can see, I did!

Disneyworld's New Fantasyland: New Attractions Will Make You Go Gaga with Delight!

Prince Eric's Castle at Under the Sea - Journey of the Little Mermaid 

Disney has done it again! Creating new attractions that fans not only will love but go total gaga over! Yes, gaga. Let's just say, I had, ahem, the case of gaga-ness myself when I saw and experience all the cool attractions that was ready to open at the New Fantasyland located inside Magic Kingdom before it opened to the public!

Disney Social Media Moms On The Road Celebration Coming to Charlotte!

This Friday, September 14th, there's bound to be a generous sprinkles of Pixie dusts and magic in the air as Disney takes its enchanting kingdom ON THE ROAD to Charlotte! With the exclusive and most coveted Disney Social Media Mom Conference not being able to accommodate everyone who wants to attend, taking it on the road, in the comfort of our own cities, is by far a brilliant idea. A way to reach out to more women influencers and highlighting those that makes a difference in the local community!

Stop and Smell the Roses. The Fine Line between REAL Life and Blogging

I took a few weeks long hiatus from blogging to give way to my personal life offline. It just happened. It was unplanned (just like some pregnancies do). It was needed. It was natural. It was a blessing. Sometimes you just have to. NO, need to! It makes me wonder how many of us are so entwined with our life offline that we couldnt even stop for a minute to enjoy the little pleasures in life like family time? We sometimes get so obsessed attached to what we do that we have a hard time disengaging ourselves to appreciate reality. Our own reality...even awful as it some times may be.

Highlights Of The Week

I'm going to start a new feature at Zensible Mama where I hope to highlight notable posts published during the week, or posts that continue to create notable buzz, and feature them in a collection during the weekend as a great end to the week past. If you have any notable posts that you think deserves extended recognition, please feel free to submit them here. Now find our first offering for this week:

See you at Mom Market @TypeAParent

Night scene at Uptown Charlotte's Center City

Type A Parent conference officially starts today and it's in my "backyard" this year! So thrilled that it is! It's close by which gives me the opportunity to go home and sleep in the comfort of my own bed at the end of the day - true translation: "It's saving me serious big bucks! Although being in Asheville right now doesn't sound so bad either as I think about uptown traffic especially in the morning... Gah! The dreaded morning and afternoon commute!

Zensible Mama Special Guest at PRSA Charlotte Coffee Chat

Mark your Calendars!

I always say nothing beats having coffee in the morning. And to top that with a good chat ... pure win! This May, I'm the special guest of Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Charlotte's Community Coffee Chat and I'm a little giddy with excitement and a little anxious because this is the first time I will be joining the chat! Though I do look forward to meeting members and chatting with this prestigious group!

On The Go! 5 Make Up That Works

BEFORE
Mickey Ears and Tiaras! 

I'm at a conference for social media savvy fairies right now and timing is crucial - you know the drill. You stay up late and wake up early the next day. No time to dilly-dally! Just like the Fairy Godmother would say. You have to keep up with the schedule or you'll have Mickey crackin' the whip on you! Now that would hurt. Ooh did I just hear you mumble Fifty shades of Grey. Oh you naughty! But nope we're not going there. We're going to talk about how to spiffy up and lookin' pretty in no time. You'd like that, won't you? Kinda like a quickie for make-up! Yes I did just say, quickie. Because it is!

Where is Zensible Mama?

If you're seeing this and staring right at my shirt in the picture, then I'm most likely on the road en route to the happiest place on earth where Pixie dusts abounds and Mickey Ears are known to be hidden! Or I'm already there and thrilled like a little girl at the adventures that lies in store for moi'! Yep, Zensible Mama and her traveling ZCrew is yet on another road trip and is looking forward to tons of fun and adventure in the next few days ahead of them. As for me, I'm going to take this magical journey as a mini-me-cation so if you don't hear from me soon enough, just imagine me on a long, extended date with Mickey! Or lost in Peter Pan's world and definitely needs no rescuing! So, see you later alligator...

Zensible Mama Visit Kissimmee Featured Blogger of the Week

Are you a big fan and believer of the cliche' hitting two birds with one stone? Well, I just had this phenomena happened to me while I was in Florida a few weeks ago. I was there for the uber-exciting She Streams conference in Fort Lauderdale and also was on assignment as the upcoming guest blogger and travel writer for Visit Kissimmee! What a delight to be able to do two things at the same time. It was on it's own a one heck of an adventure for me.

Travel Docu-Series She Streams Edition

Sunset in Fort Lauderdale - A view from my room!

As promised, here is the second part of the mini-travel video docu-series I put together for AT&T that documented our road trip to Fort Lauderdale, Florida for She Streams Conference and the conference itself. Watch the video and see if you can identify some familiar faces!

Zensible Mama Featured In Power Moms Book

You can find Zensible Mama on page 153 in Power Moms Book by Maria Bailey

I finally had the chance to get hold of the Power Moms Book by Maria Bailey, thanks to Jendi Pagano of @JendisJournal who "regifted" the book (more like I twisted her arms) which she won during a drawing at the recent She Streams conference in Fort Lauderdale!

Road Trip Docu-Series Made Possible by AT&T - Part 1

Zensible Mama and Geek Papa on a road trip adventure
documented and connected by AT&T

As a frequent traveler, being on the road and maintaining a seamless connection to keep up with your virtual world can sometimes become a daunting task, add annoying, when internet connection is either flaky or non-existent! During my recent travel to Fort Lauderdale, Florida for She Streams Conference, AT&T took the challenge by arming me with a smartphone and providing me it's 4G power to help me document our road trip experience so we can share it to the world, our family and friends IN REAL TIME!

Rite of Passage at SheStreams

My speaker badge at She Streams 2012 Fort Lauderdale, FL

If you were me, rite of passage would most certainly have been what I experienced at the recent SheStreams conference at Fort Lauderdale in Florida. During the Power Moms session where I was one of the speaker, one blogger from the audience asked "How would you know when it's time to move up to the next level?". Though most of us were a little dumbfounded by the question, well seriously now, how one does really know?, it was indeed a very valid question.  I was appointed to answer the question when no one in my panel volunteered to answer and though I tried my best to answer, that lady's sentiment kind of resonated where I'm right now. How do I really know when it's time for me to move up to the next level? From an achieved blogger to a full-pledged speaker...