This map displays museums, parks, historical areas and other things for people to do in NW Georgia.
Some of the winners were announced recently in the Georgia Press Association Better Newspaper Contest, and yours truly was involved in a couple winning entries. The Rome News-Tribune, where I am Web editor, competes in division B, for papers with daily circulation of 15,000 – 40,000.
I won an individual award, placing third for best online news project. They haven’t announced yet which project won, but I’m thinking it’s either a page of local candidate information from the November general election, an interactive map of attractions and recreation in Northwest Georgia, or a special site I made to house all our coverage of the 2008 Coosa Valley Fair.
Read more
So Steve and I celebrated our 10th anniversary this week. It trips me out to think we’ve been together for a full third of my life. But he makes me laugh, and really that’s the ideal isn’t it?
It also helps that he bought me a pink Blackberry for our anniversary. Where he got the money, I have no idea. See, I’m the one who balances the checkbook and looks at statements, etc., and I didn’t see any mysterious charges show up. He really surprised the heck out of me.
Now I’m completely addicted to the thing. I’ve already got a few applications on it, and I can’t stop messing with it. There’s just so many customizations that can be made; it’s pretty much the polar opposite of the Jitterbug.
Sidenote: If you haven’t yet, check out Myxer for ringtones, along with wallpapers, games, etc. The default Blackberry ringtone drove me crazy; Johnny Cash’s “Get Rhythm” is much more my speed.
As far as features go, I’m especially fond of the fact that everything gets synced up with the computer, instead of having to enter contacts and calendar items manually through the phone. I also like being able to check my e-mail on the go.
I am still having a few problems because I have to use a third party app to sync with the Mac, but Steve thinks we’ll get that all worked out.
I went by the future home of Caio Bella after work today. The place looks great – Leanna has reason to be proud of it. She and Kevin are working so hard to make the spa nice. When everything’s done, it’s going to be a very warm, inviting place. What’s great about the space is that it’s professional-looking without being too sterile; more streamlined than a house, more inviting than a clinic.
We discussed the murals Kevin is going to paint. The Caio Bella mascot will be in several scenes – downtown Rome, under the sea, in a wig shop, in a shipyard – but Leanna needed one more setting. I gave her the brilliant idea of a bakery or pastry shop. After all, everybody loves cupcakes!
I also offered to design her Web site. She’s going to let me leave some business cards in her lobby, and I’ll also have a link to my page on her site. I don’t mind doing it for free because 1. She’s my little sister and 2. I need to build up my portfolio as much as I can.
So my 30th birthday yesterday was very nice. I had a coupon for a buy one, get one free at Sweet Tomatoes, so Steve and I had a huge lunch. We were going to go see “Iron Man” afterwards, but the timing didn’t work out right, so we spent the afternoon on a fruitless search for a good deal on a web design book.
Had dinner at Mom and Dad’s – hamburgers, hot dogs, pasta salad, etc. Delicious. We followed that with a heart attack in chocolate form: a chocolate ganache cake from Publix. Again, delicious.
Turns out my family is super generous. Steve got me a very nice griddle/grill from Cuisinart. The plates come out, and they’re dishwasher safe, so I think I might actually use this. (My other griddle never got used because it was such a pain to clean.)
Read more
Social Homes