Last weekend I was a speaker at Lavish! An Unconference for the Lifestyle Social Networker.  I spoke on a panel called I’m a Mom.  I blog.  But I’m Not a Mommy Blogger: Stop Calling Me That! with Justice Fergie and Meridith Ford.   We planned our panel to allow a few minutes at the beginning to talk about ourselves as it relates to the panel topic.   During preparation for my talk I found it best to write out what I was going to say and then have the key points highlighted as speaking points.

Well, it didn’t actually go down like that.  After getting a feel for the Lavish attendees early in the day, we decided that it would be best to ditch the speeches and open up the floor for discussion almost immediately.  It was a good call.  The session became very lively very quickly as people voiced their opinions about the term “Mommy Blogger.”  As Krystal Grant said in her blog post recap of Lavish, we were *this close* to picketing up and down Peachtree Street, we were so fired up.

But then the conversation took an interesting turn after we did a creative exercise.  We asked everyone to share their blog’s tagline and/or an elevator pitch about themselves and their blog and as people began to share, it turned into a discussion about branding.   People asked questions and got answers from the panel as well as the attendees.  We collectively shared branding, marking and technical information.  We tweaked pitches and taglines, gave constructive criticism and encouraged one another.    The session was informative and fun.

However, now I have this speech just sitting on my computer that never got said.   I thought that I would share it with you.

People often ask me how I came up with the name Funkidivagirl.com.   It was my email address–Funkidivagirl.  A few years ago we lived in a neighborhood with an active email loop.  I frequently contributed to the stream and neighbors began to trust my judgement and opinions.    I signed the emails with my real name.  More than once I was taken off-guard when someone overheard my real name and connected the dots back to Funkidivagirl.

The response was always the same: you have great emails and I really listen to your information.  That is what my husband–you heard him give the keynote address this morning–calls an “influencer.”   I just I love helping people make their lives more interesting, easier or more joyful; I’m honored that people would actually take my advice.   My husband said, “why don’t you take this influence out of your local community and friends and make it global?”

And that’s how Funkidivagirl.com was born.

Recently, when I was honored as a social media maven at Digitini, as part as my introduction the speaker said, “And whatever you do, DON’T call her a Mommy Blogger!”  Geesh, I didn’t know my reputation preceded me like that–and in such a hostile way.   It got me to thinking,  why do I bristle at the term “Mommy Blogger”?  After all, I primarily refer to myself as a stay-at-home mom or a homemaker (I even created a video and a Facebook movement called The 4 Real Housewives), so it would seem that I would be comfortable with it.    Most of my identity at this point in my life is centered around being a mom and I’m okay with that.

But I find the label “Mommy Blogger” limiting and dismissive.

I could be called a travel blogger.  I pretty much write about every trip my family takes in great detail and cross-posts them on Budgettravel.com.  I have been invited to Disney World a few times as media.

I could be called a food blogger.  If you google “The Best Cupcakes in Atlanta,” my website is one of the first links.    My family often contributes to a blog posts around “The Best Thing I Ever Ate.”  We all write passionately about our experiences with food in Atlanta and during our travels.

I could be called an pet blogger.  I frequently blog about my dog and update his status on his Facebook fan page.   There is a very active social media pet community online–websites, twitter and Facebook.  My husband and I–along with our puppy–spoke at BarkWorld Expo about how we involve our pet in social media.

I could be called a fashion and beauty blogger;  I’m always writing about my fashion and beauty finds.  And I am the Foursquare mayor of Nordstrom.

But ultimately I prefer to be called a writer.   Somewhere along the way of being an influencer I found my voice as a writer.

Sometimes I do write self-generated product reviews.  Not because I was asked to or got paid (not that there is anything wrong with that, I’m all for it–a sista’s gotta eat), but because I want to share my experience with my readers.   But even still while sharing my opinions on products, I keep my authentic voice.

Mostly though I tell stories.  Often they are humorous, because I like to laugh and my life is insanely funny, at least to me.    Sometimes I write about my family.

But I also write thought-provoking and serious posts sparked by a current event, situation or life-lesson, like when my husband was attacked by social media or when I wrote about a suicide.

I was excited when Shameeka told me about Lavish, a conference for Lifestyle bloggers because it is validation for the non-Mommy Bloggers.  I hope this panel sparks some lively discussion about creating communities and the labeling and unlabeling of us all.

That’s what I was going to say.

Oh, and I never got to share my elevator pitch:   “I am a writer who uses social media to tell stories, share information and build a community through Funkidivagirl.com.  I frequently write about food, fashion, travel, parenting, technology, diversity and my puppy, Chili Dawg.”

You already know my tagline:   Saving The World From Mediocrity.

If you are a blogger or small business owner, do you have a tagline for your blog title or company name?  Would you like to share your elevator pitch?

© 2010 – 2011, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

Do you know Shameeka Ayers?   Maybe you know her better as The Broke Socialite.   If you don’t read her blog or follow her on Twitter, then you are missing out on some fabulousness in your life.   She’s funny, savvy, fashionable and cultured.   And certainly not least, she’s a mogul in the quick making.  Among many other successes, Shameeka has made a name for herself with her wildly popular Sugar Coma bakery crawls.   Of course planning and hosting a conference would be the next step.

I can hear you sigh…do we need another conference?  Aren’t there enough social media conferences already?   Generally I would agree, except as Shameeka so eloquently explains on the Lavish website, this is an unconference for those social media people who do not fit neatly into the existing conference demographics.

The brainchild of veteran social media enthusiast, Shameeka Ayers (a.k.a. The Broke Socialite), lavish! was created as an alternative to the Mommy/Techie/Pundit social media scenes.  Much to their credit, the aforementioned communities organized themselves and are now forces to be reckoned with in the blogosphere.

Think big. Like, really big. Enter lavish!, an ingenious two day unconference environment deliberately tailored for the lifestyle social networker. Yes! Finally! A conference for “us”!

Not your run-of-the-mill conference, fabulous attendees will be invited to create compelling educational content and evolve into content contributors on-the-spot yet enjoy the flexibility of structured sessions. lavish! will be a highly interactive environment geared toward fostering education and networking in the lifestyle social media community. Isn’t it time that we had our own opportunity for relevant and fresh idea exchange?

With a keynote speech from James Andrews (What? Yes, I know he’s my husband, but he’s still a great speaker!) and session titles like these, you know that the content is going to be interesting, innovative and relevant.

• So Fresh & So Clean: The Editorial Approach to Design Blogging
• I Am A Product Junkie; Therefore, I blog: A Make-up Bloggers’ Roundtable
• But Blogging IS A Real Job!: Helping Your Family And Friends Get It
• And my personal favorite, I’m A Mom.  I Blog.  But I’m Not A Mommy Blogger: Stop Calling Me That!

The last session is my favorite because I’m speaking on that panel along with Justice Fergie, from JusticeFergie.com, MamaLaw and Blogalicious and Meridith Ford from Life Is Lemonade. We are all excited to create some dialogue around the labeling (and we hope unlabeling) of the term “Mommy Blogger.”

But we can start the dialogue right here and now on Funkidivagirl.com.   I ask you: if you are a blogger, what do you think if the words “Mommy Blogger”  (for yourself or others)?   Have you ever been called a “Mommy Blogger” and if so, does that bother you?  Why or why not?  How do you define yourself  and your blog?

Let’s discuss.

If you are not able to attend Lavish, you can follow the twitter stream with the hashtag #lavishconf

© 2010 – 2011, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

Jeans.  They are one of my least favorite things to shop for, along with swimsuits and bras.  So many brands, so many different fits!   I know that I’m not alone in my angst.  I’m sure that you do what I do when I find a brand of jeans that fits me well–stick with it.  I have friends that swear by Joe’s Jeans (they don’t fit me) or True Religion (they don’t fit me).  My friend Luxetips loves Hudson Jeans, while I love G-Star Raw.  We’ve both tried each other’s brands, but nope, they didn’t work for us.  She stayed with Hudson and I stayed with G-Star.

Did you notice that the brands I mentioned are trendy, boutique brands?  Luxetips and I, both fashionistas, wouldn’t be caught dead in “mom jeans”.  You know the ones: non-descript, ill-fitting, off-color with oddly placed pockets.  So honestly we approached the jean table at Getting Gorgeous NYC 2010 with some trepidation.  Miraclebody Jeans?  Hmm…we hadn’t heard of them, but we were willing to give them a try.

We retreated to a corner, tried on the jeans (stretch leggings for both of us) and instantly fell in love! The dark wash leggings were heavy without being stiff and just tight enough.  We felt hip, but still comfortable (these things don’t normally go together) due to the ample amount of spandex in the leggings.  We both agreed that we will live in these jeans come fall!   The dark wash and quality denim will allow us to wear these jeans dressed up or dressed down.   These were not “mom jeans!”

But, here’s the best part: the jeans are made to make you look 10 pounds lighter.  The tag on my jeans reads:

Miraclebody by Miraclesuit is handcrafted to shape and firm the body without using bulky linings or girdles.  Miracle Body supersoft fabric has twice as much spandex as the averave jean, our exclusive Miratex fabric as triple the holding power as assuring as a beautiful fit as well as a trendy style.  Look 10 lbs lighter in 10 seconds.

Now, as awesome as this sounds, I wouldn’t wear them if they didn’t look good.  And neither would Luxetips.  We’ve got reps to protect LOL!

Here I am, modeling my jeans for the family.  Yeah, I could get all sexy with some heels, but I rock Converse on a daily basis, so this is how I’ll be wearing the jeans most of the time.

I am wearing leggings, but there are several different kinds of jeans available.  At $88, these jeans are very affordable, but right now Miraclebody is offering my readers 10% off all jeans as well as free shipping and returns from 8/15-9/15.  Just enter the code “Take Ten” at checkout.

Look good and feel good, that’s what a good pair jeans ought to do, and Miraclebody does just that.

*Full Disclosure: I received a pair of Miraclebody Jeans as part of Getting Gorgeous NYC 2010, an invite-only event during Blogher 2010 weekend.  I was not asked to write this review and all opinions expressed are entirely my own.

© 2010 – 2011, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

I have had the pleasure of attending a few media events at Disney World and while it is fun, make no mistake, there is also work involved.   The days are long and the schedule is jam-packed.  During a media day at Disney I could be in front of a photographer, interviewing or meeting Disney executives, lunching in a nice restaurant and riding a roller coaster.  And don’t forget about the Florida heat!

All of these factors make dressing for a Disney media trip very tricky.  Although Disney World is a casual place, I am not there as a tourist, and therefore I don’t think it is appropriate to dress like one.   I need to dress appropriate, funki (cause that’s me) but also comfortable and cool.  And of course I must look cute!  There are cameras everywhere and I never know whose blog, newspaper article or newsreel on which I may appear.

My last trip was a little more relaxed because families were invited as well, but this presented the challenge of dressing for both media events and family fun in the same day.  Here are the looks that I put together:

Day 1: I had a media event in the morning with several Disney employees about the Main Street Electrical Parade.   This dress worked well for the occassion: it was breezy and cool, short enough to be fashionable, but not too short to be inappropriate and easy to dress up with accessories.  For the media event I swapped the fabric belt for a wide black belt.  While my sandals are flat and perfect for walking, they are a bit dressy and elevate the dress.  The green color adds some funkiness (gotta put the funk in there somehow!).   My tote bag is big enough to hold my wallet, lipgloss, sunglasses and necessary media equipment–iPhone, Flip cam, camera, notepad, agenda–as well as a pair of play shoes.  I could have even put my iPad in there if needed.

Dress: from Dakota J’s, an Atlanta boutique

Shoes: Seychelles, from Sole, an Atlanta boutique shoe store

Belt: from Sage, an Atlanta boutique

Bag: Marc by Marc Jacobs, from Nordstrom

After I met up with my family and the sun became to much to handle, I pulled my hair back, exchanged the wide belt for the fabric belt and switched the Seychelles sandals for my purple Keens sandals (ok, not the most fashionable shoes, but my feet needed a break; I think a pair of Fit Flops would have worked well too).  Never underestimate a great pair of sunglasses to hide your tired eyes!

Sunglasses: Juicy Couture

For our evening dinner event I transformed back into Funkidiva Media Girl: wide belt, Seychelles sandals and loose hair.

Day 2: My family joined me for a media screening of Toy Story 3.  Although I didn’t have to dress nicely, it was still a media event and somebody is always filming or photographing.  After the movie we were scheduled to spend the day as a family in Hollywood Studios, so I dressed for fun, but still a few notches above my normal Disney World garb.  I wore shorts (but not too short), a cute top and another pair of funki flat sandals.  Again, once my feet grew tired and my face sweaty, I swapped the cute sandals for Keens and pulled my hair back.   In the evening, right before the media dinner,  I let my hair down and put on the cute sandals.  Here I am about to ride Toy Story Mania.  I am working; I swear!

Shorts: Lucky Brand

Shirt: Anthropologie

Shoes: Seychelles, from Sole, an Atlanta boutique shoe store

Day 3: I was working early in the morning and then flying back home.  This was the big media event for Summer Nightastic; television and radio stations would be present.   Since I would be interviewing several people and representing Funkidivagirl.com, I wanted to look nice, but casual.  Here I am after the interviews and on my to the airport.  I wore the purple Seychelles sandals while working, but in this photo I have on my Swarovski crystal Havaianas flip flops; my feet were done!

Dress: Lucky Brand

Bag: Oilily

On the next trip I have to pick up a few things at TrenD, a stylish boutique in Downtown Disney, because it’s always appropriate to wear Mickey at Disney World.  With a pair of white jeans and strappy sandals, a crystal-studded blinging Mickey tee would look fresh and funki and just right–for work or play.

© 2010, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

There was an interesting thread on Twitter last night: What is your favorite Disney movie?  The Lion King was a front runner and yes, I agree that it’s a classic.  I threw out The Incredibles and Up as my favorites, but Toy Story has a special place in my heart.  When my son was a toddler, he watched Toy Story on VHS again and again.  And again.  And again.  Notice that I said VHS…which means that he threw a tantrum while we rewound the tape.  My husband and I watched it so much that we would recite movie lines right along with Buzz and Woody.

Woody: You are a child’s play thing!
Buzz: You are a sad, strange little man, and you have my pity.  Farewell.
Woody: Oh, yeah? Well, good riddance, ya loony!

Lucky for us that it’s such a good movie.  Actually at the time my son just liked the animation; it wasn’t until he saw it recently that he actually understood the humor.  And then he loved it even more.

We all know that sequels are rarely as good as the original, but Toy Story 2 was an exception.  It was just as funny and just as clever as the first one.  So, it was with great anticipation that my family waited for the release of Toy Story 3 on June 18th.  We planned to see it on the release day.

But hold up, wait a minute!  It seemed like being part of Funkidivagirl’s Media Entourage at Disney World meant attending an early screening of Toy Story 3 in Downtown Disney!  Go ahead and say it kids…”my mom is so cool.”

The Green Army Men from the Toy Story movies were our guides for the day and they were hilarious.  Here they are whipping my kids into shape before our boat ride to Downtown Disney:

We settled in with our complimentary popcorn and drinks, 3D glasses on our faces.  My kids were so excited.  I was excited and my husband too.  The whole theater was positively humming with excitement.

All I can say is WOW.  How could Toy Story 3 be as good as the first two?   Our old favorite toys are there (with a few surprises) but the new additions–Big Baby, Lots-O’-Huggin’ Bear, and Ken–oh my gosh Ken!–are great new additions.  I laughed.  I cried.  I never knew that I could care about toys so much.  I won’t give away too much, but I give you permission to keep your expectations very high.  And Toy Story 3 will surpass them.  It’s that good.

Still buzzing from the movie, we hopped on the tour bus and were dropped backstage at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.    With the media fast pass–which meant that we didn’t wait in line–we had just enough time for a practice run of Toy Story Mania before our allotted time slot in the Buzz Cup Tournament. The tournament was just for the Summer Nightastic media and their families.   This is one of my family’s favorite attractions at Disney World, so we were very familiar with the game, but a new section had been added for Toy Story 3.  In the end I had a respectable score of 133,500 (I beat my husband!), but it wasn’t high enough to win.  The winner in the adult category scored over 211,000!   Look who had the top score of 150,000 for the junior cadets:

That’s right, my son won the Buzz Cup Tournament!  He got the big trophy and bragging rights all night.   We ended our exciting day with a delicious Toy Story-themed dinner, Toy Story gifts and a photo session with Lots-O’-Huggin’ Bear.  I’m not going to say much, because I don’t want to spoil the movie for you, but *side eye* at Lots-O’-Huggin’ Bear.   Hmmph!

The Toy Story movies are so much fun because we get to see the world from the toys’ perspective. Well, during media interviews I got the rare opportunity to talk to some of Andy’s toys, the Green Army Men:

*Warning: small spoiler alert for Toy Story 3

There you have it, straight from the toy’s mouth!  If you haven’t seen the movie, go see it.  You will love it; I promise.  If you have seen the movie, tell me what you think!

*Full Disclosure: I was invited by Disney to attend the Summer Nightastic media event.  Disney paid for my flight, hotel room, several meals and park tickets for me and my family.  I paid for my family’s travel.  All opinions expressed are my own.

© 2010, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.