• All You Have to Do
    Spreading the Bloggie Love,  Tradition

    The NaBloPoMo Game (Hear Me Out: I Have an Idea!)

    National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo) is something that most of us old school bloggers looked forward to every November. We published a new post every single day during the month and, just as importantly, we read the words written by our friends. Blogging has changed a lot since those early days (monetization had a hand in “killing” it, as did Facebook and other elements; don’t get me started). Over the past couple of years, I’ve asked who wants to participate in NaBloPoMo with me and the number of respondents has decreased dramatically: so much so that this year I didn’t even have it on my radar. (Probably also because 2020!)…

  • NABLOPOMO 2018
    Writing

    #NaBloPoMo 2018: Check!

    Today is the last day of November, and that means National Blog Posting Month, or NaBloPoMo, is drawing to a close. I have attempted to blog every day in November for the last decade. I think I only “failed” once, though I don’t really count it as a fail since I tried my best and I was my only judge and jury. I thought this month was going to be really tough since I was traveling for 14 days out of 30, but I was wrong. I pre-scheduled 3 or 4 posts ahead of our Maui trip because I didn’t know what to expect as far as writing time, and…

  • Melisa Wells logo
    My Friends Have Mad Skillz,  Writing

    New Blog Design, Who Dis?

    My blog is finally fixed: it’s been moved to a new host, cleaned up, and redesigned…and I’m thrilled. Many thanks to Lisa at Gizmo Creative Factory for saving my life–err, my blog’s life–more times than I can count this year. I am absolutely in love with the new look and she got it done just in time for two things: my birthday (which is next week) and NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month), which begins today. I make a good effort at NaBloPoMo each year and it renews my writing energy. To be honest, I’m traveling for a bit this month so I wasn’t even going to attempt it for 2018,…

  • Confessions,  Random Thoughts

    On What’s Important in Life

    Warning: Ramble ahead. There has been a lot of loss in the world in 2016. That in itself is a massive understatement so let me try again. 2016 has been a monumental year for loss. In fact, 9 out of 10 of my friends will tell you that they’re thrilled it’s almost over, and if given a choice, would end the year immediately because of the fresh start 2017 promises. Let me start with some of the celebrity losses that cut us deeply in 2016, not that any one life is better than another but the deaths of some icons hit many of us in the gut, collectively. Prince. David…

  • Amazing People,  Family Fun,  Favorite Things,  My Kid Has Mad Skillz

    Okay, I Stand Corrected.

    Something good that has come out of this election is the seemingly unending stream of thoughtful political conversation I’ve been enjoying with my twenty-four-year-old. It’s really something special to be able to have intelligent discourse about world affairs with your own grown kid and as much as this election and the post-election developments have had me tied up in knots, it’s been a bright spot. That said, I have a much more entertaining conversation to share here. The scene: my kitchen. I’m lighting my Clean Cotton-scented Yankee Candle. Dylan: “It’s too bad they don’t make a candle that smells like lighting a match.” Me: “YES. That would be amazing.” Dylan:…

  • Friends,  Spreading the Bloggie Love

    #NaBloPoMo: 30 Days of Back to Basics

    I celebrated my ninth blogging anniversary last Friday. Well, “celebrated” isn’t entirely accurate. I literally noticed that it was the anniversary of my first post, mentioned it on Facebook, and whispered to myself, “Yay me!” That’s it. Nine years of blogging is nothing to sneeze at, however. It’s a pretty nice accomplishment. Sure, I don’t blog nearly as much as I did in the beginning or even five years ago, but I still love to write here when I can. November is National Blog Posting Month, or NaBloPoMo. During NaBloPoMo a bunch of us crazies make a commitment to ourselves to post something every single day. (November is also National…

  • I've Got Mad Skillz

    #NaBloPoMo 2016: Complete!

    Thirty posts in thirty days. I did it! They weren’t all gems. In fact, most of them couldn’t even pass for polished rocks. That said, I achieved my personal goal of being intentional about posting daily and inspiring myself to continue regular posting here beyond November, even if it’s not every single day. It wasn’t pretty but I’ll take it! In case you were a busy writer (or a busy anything!) this month and didn’t get here to read much, here are my favorite Suburban Scrawl posts from NaBloPoMo 2016: Money Battles This Week’s Obsession Is Brought To You By Missy Elliott Lean On Me. To Infinity and Beyond Fun…

  • Friends,  Spreading the Bloggie Love

    Blogging Like Nobody’s Reading.

    Blogging like nobody’s reading. I just posted it as my current status on Facebook and the “likes” are rolling in from all of my blogger friends. We’re closing out 2015’s NaBloPoMo tomorrow and, more than ever, this one has been truly about blogging for one’s self. Besides the fact that many people don’t blog as much as they used to, many people (including me!) also aren’t reading as much as they used to. We’re busy! Or is it just my community? Or is it just me? Hmmm. We returned home late this afternoon from our Thanksgiving trip to Tennessee and as I was thinking about what to write this evening,…

  • Confessions,  Food

    Food Coma.

    It’s Thanksgiving, and my title says it all. I’ll be back tomorrow; I’m taking a Free Pass today for NaBloPoMo because I don’t think I can stay awake long enough to

  • Random Thoughts,  Shameless Promotion

    NaBloPoMo 2015: Jumpstart!

    It’s that time of year again! November is National Blog Posting Month, in which many of us attempt to publish a post every single day. There are prizes to be won when you sign up (by November 5!) on the BlogHer site, but for me the real prize is bringing myself back to regular writing on this blog, which I miss desperately much of the time. It’s gotten harder for me to write blog posts over the past couple of years for two main reasons. The first one is because I am so busy in other areas of my life. My work with LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER and BlogHer fill…