C Tann-Starr's Outside Blog

Mi Estrella, Jackson Heights, Queens County, New York

89-19 Roosevelt Avenue  Jackson Heights, New York 11372 (718) 429-8973

Aunt Cindy and I took our Little Minions out for an early lunch to one of our fave places to eat. Our buddy, Mr. Chang, is a partner is this really cool Asian/Latin spot off the corner of Roosevelt and 89th in Jackson Heights called Mi Estrella. It's kid friendly and family oriented in a major shopping area, so street parking may be a little tricky on the week ends (LOL). 

Mi Estrella translated from Spanish to English means "My Star."

Being a Starr, I get a lot of mileage out of silly word play when it comes to meeting my peeps at this restaurant. Diners have 147 meals to choose from inclusive of 15 Latin and 37 Asian Specialty Dishes, not to mention 21 really cool Combination Plates. They are always tweaking something, so prices and menu items may change without notice. This is a good thing because I have never been disappointed by this establishment and am always down to try a new dish, especially if my friends think it tastes good. Cindy introduced me to Mr. Chang years ago and I have been hooked on his cooking and chefs ever since (LOL). He's a good friend of the family and it is my pleasure to introduce his place to you.

On Sunday we ordered Chicken Breasts, Chicken Fried Steak, Avocado Salad, Plantains, White Rice and Pink Beans, a pot of Spanish Sausage with Yellow Rice, Italian Bread, Cake, Flan and Peach Snapple Ice Teas.

Mmm... it was a lovely afternoon filled with very tasty food. We brought extra home for the hubby who couldn't make it. The Minion Blur ate two entire plates and then promptly started in on Noah's left overs (LOL). We had quite a time keeping that kid from swiping something from everyone's plate. Stephen was on a snack-age roll and Noah was happily obsessing about the Christmas lights and tree near the entrance. He stuffed himself as well, but wasn't as greedy as Step was. I kept thinking it was nice to have adventurous kids who will try anything at least once, especially if you appear to be interested in something (LOL). I think he was in competition mode because Stephen was interested in everything yesterday and wanted to be first, so I had my hands full for the first half of the meal trying to keep him in his seat and not "help" other people eat (LOL).

The food at Mi Estrella is Spanking-A delicious and definitely gets the minion thumbs up as a place you have got to try. I get pretty excited when we make plans to meet at Mi Estrella because I always have a pleasant dining experience there (and I never go without Cindy - LOL). The staff and owners are very kind and provide wonderful service. They are very attentive and prompt with their responses to your dining needs. Next time out, we're going for Beef with Tomatoes, General Tso's Chicken, Curry Sauce Shrimps, Red Snapper, Broiled Salmon and definitely a repeat of the Avocado Salad and Spanish Sausage with Yellow Rice.

It's a real treat to be able to eat Asian and Latin dishes at the same sitting. If you are going to try it, I recommend Mi Estrella as the place to be. ;-)

I am going to start my chat with two quotes from Wikipedia:

"Hanukkah (Hebrew: חנוכה‎, IPA: ['χanuka], alt. Chanukah), also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the re-dedication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE. Hanukkah is observed for eight nights, starting on the 25th day of Kislev according to the Hebrew calendar, and may occur from late November to late December on the Gregorian calendar."

"The festival is observed by the kindling of the lights of a special candelabrum, the nine-branched Menorah or Hanukiah, one light on each night of the holiday, progressing to eight on the final night. An extra light called a shamash (Hebrew: "guard" or "servant") is also lit each night, and is given a distinct location, usually higher or lower than the others. The purpose of the extra light is to adhere to the prohibition, specified in the Talmud (Tracate Shabbat 21b–23a), against using the Hanukkah lights for anything other than publicizing and meditating on the Hanukkah story."

You can read the full Wiki article on Hanukkah here.

We celebrated Christmas and Hanukkah with our relatives on Staten Island today. Jesus is Jewish, so I enjoy the best of both worlds and refuse to fight about it. God gave us the right to choose, so I choose both sides of the Bible and believe every word the Holy Spirit has to say.

It's nice to learn from people who can read and write Hebrew. I am struggling to learn how to read and write this language and realize my boys are going to have to learn Hebrew as well so they can keep up with their Daddy's side of the family. :-)

Our relatives are used to the Autism / PDD-NOS issues and have no problem distracting our children, getting them to focus on small tasks to occupy their minds. Noah was quite the little helper tonight. For the first time he was allowed to light the Menorah. A very cool moment I must say for it was totally unexpected. The entire time we were singing in Hebrew that kid was beaming. It felt really good to see him so interested in the festivities and willing to participate without having a melt down. The only odd moment was his insisting on turning off the kitchen lights while we were enjoying dinner. I kept wondering if it was the candle light of the Menorah he was focused on, or the gorgeous Christmas lights from the homes across the street visible through the kitchen windows. He managed to flip that light switch several times tonight. What a cheeky little fellow for it turned into quite a silly game (LOL).

If you were to ask me I'd have to hypothesize that the number one attraction for Noah wanting to visit with Uncle Lester and his family appears to revolve around music. My boy has a thing for guitars and is always grabbing a musical instrument to strum or a microphone to sing into. Sometimes he can be found trying to finger slap Ben's bass, pluck at the violin or attack Alex's keyboards with great gusto (LOL). I have promised him music lessons. He is going to hold me to that promise and I am looking forward to delivering on it. Noah has a beautiful singing voice. Although he is speech delayed and suffering from Echolalia, the fact that he can sing in multiple languages has us very hopeful we can use music as a tool to compensate for some of his learning disabilities. The Autism spectrum can produce some startling traits in its victims. We're hoping to turn this curious trait into a useful strength since my two legged recorder has a ear for music and languages.

Noah picked out some Christmas / Hanukkah family eye candy to share. We enjoyed our evening with our family and hope that you all enjoyed your holiday as well. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and wishing you a very happy New Year.

PANI DOLCI BAKERY

137-67 Queens Blvd Briarwood, NY 11435    (718) 526-4407 (718) 569-0908

I was tweeting about attending multiple Christmas parties yesterday and spoofing on my buddies drinking habits when it suddenly occurred to me that I should showcase another favorite neighborhood spot to eat. We had to buy various goodies for multiple holiday events so we got them all from the PANI DOLCI bakery. I love this place. They really know how to do it up right if you need a special creation to highlight any type of celebration. It happens to be our first choice to get kosher foodie paradise goodies. They have a lovely selection of low cal sugar free treats for diabetics as well.

If you want to have a gingerbread house created (to be the envy of your holiday peers) you have got to call these people. Seriously! They do excellent work!

Retail, wholesale, it doesn't make a difference, every customer is important. They provide artisan quality pastries and cakes plus will hook you up with some coffee or a cappuccino while you wait for your order. They are open Monday through Sunday and happen to be a fave foodie paradise spot of my entire family. Stephen is usually glued to the glass chirping, "this one?" while pointing out strawberry short cakes (FYI: our favorite selection there). BTW, he has never spat out a single creation he's had the privilege to taste. This place definitely gets the minion thumbs up and has saved me when my kids started having a melt-down in the middle of the street. Little dude can be distracted with food and if you say "bakery" he will automatically drag you right here (LOL).

Since Stephen was the willing victim of my holiday shutterbug addiction yesterday I've got several pics that I can use for this post, however, the Minion Blur selected this one (LOL). Do you think the yummies on display had anything to do with him picking the only bakery shot displaying the back of his head? Hmm... I think so, which is why I love blogging with my kids (LOL). They make selecting photographs and blog posting so much more interesting and fun, especially when I try to get into their heads and figure out why this one made the cut instead of that one being the winner.

Creating music with them is a hoot too. My neighbors are going to have a very interesting Christmas because their Dad brought them each small drums to go with the guitars, bongos, keyboards and flutes littering our apartment. I may need some Motrin or Bayer... Looks like I'll be shopping at the drug store after this post is published (LMAO).

Personally, I'd rather have the Wii but the idea of Stephen floating it in the toilet made hubby run the other way. Bummer.  Since I know that they both enjoy picking the pictures for my blog posts and I love the computer interaction, I think the Wii University would be a good match for them... We shall see. Noah has a birthday coming up next month so I shall have time to work on Daddy (LOL). BTW, I am teaching them both how to use my Nikon and Noah is getting pretty good with it. Stephen, on the other hand, is still a nightmare with the electronics so we've been working on showing him the correct way to use them. 2009 should be very interesting... maybe he'll use the toilet and toaster for what they were designed for. After all, he'll be 3 in April. Rumor has it there may be hope for me and my electronics down the road. But I digress...  ;-)

Yesterday, my fave party took place in the early afternoon with my son Noah's little friends in Jamaica. The teachers and parents got together to share some food and have a good time with our children. Stephen attended Noah's holiday event and had a blast. He was quite the little gentleman and I was very proud of him. He behaved remarkably well and you would have never been able to guess my son was suffering from PDD-NOS. I credit the hard work of his teachers and therapists and send kudos and congrats to the early intervention program he attends. He was also very proud to have his snacks showcased on the "buffet table." That was fun. He had no problem sharing them because he was too busy swiping chips off of other peoples plates (LMAO). I have soooo gotta work on that boy's social skills...

My child is improving at a measurable pace and I am very grateful God has blessed me with such a precious gift. I am crazy about my two little boys and this is the first Christmas they both are able to understand what it means to celebrate Messiah. The exchange of gifts has been fun so far and Step is excited about a very special treat and wont stop obsessing over a red gift  box the center gave the kids. He will not let anyone touch it because his Speech Therapist Danny gave it to him. As a direct result my kid lit up like you wouldn't believe. That was awesome! He was dancing in the streets and all around the apartment because Dan gave him a present. There was that spark of connection where Dan went from being a teacher to being viewed as his personal friend. I love when he does the Stephen happy dance. That kid hugs and kisses everything that he really, really likes (LOL). I can't wait to see how he greets Dan for 2009. :-)

The Minion Blur really loves discovering Christmas and has a thing for the music, lights and holiday treats. Like his Mama, the Prince of Audacity is a foodie paradise fanatic and makes no bones about where he wants to go when we start out on our community walks. Little dude understands the concept of shopping and has an expectation to always be treated to something nice. He expects to be able to choose something he wants and doesn't care if it is a Hot Wheels car or a spanking-A meal. He is developing an eye for eye candy and will re-arrange his food into patterns that please him. He will eat it as long as it tastes good and the colors suit his mood. If a meal, snack or treat doesn't taste good my boy will spit that puppy out in a New York minute. He doesn't care where it lands either, so you may want to give him a little space if you decide to give him a taste of your food while we're hanging out (LOL). If he doesn't like the color, he wont eat it, period.

I have no idea what tomorrow will bring, but I will be chatting all about it. We have quite a few rounds to make tomorrow. My little dudes have very active social lives. From my family to yours:

Merry Christmas and may God bless you and your families. <3 C. ;-)

http://activerain.com/blogsview/848845/The-Ins-and-Outs-of-Short-Sales-and-Foreclosures-with-videos

Ilyce Glink put together an AR post that I thought was very nicely done. She's embedded three videos that you may find useful and has given written permission for people to embed them as well (in the comments section of her post) so I thought I'd give you a heads up because it might be useful as an illustration (for some of you who may be writing on the subject).

The public may find them useful as well. If you have a moment, go check them out and say hello to Ilyce. :-)

Enjoy! <3 C.

http://www.stanleytang.com/2008/12/15/internet-marketing-is-a-team-sport/

Todays's Club Chaos/S.G. Fan Club Twitter Talking Point: Internet Marketing Is A Team Sport

Here's an interesting Bio quote: "A 16-year-old kid trying to make some pocket money on-line. #1 Best-Selling Author of eMillions."

If you think joining a writing project is a waste of your time, you may want to reconsider. Check out what my Tweep-peep @stanleytang has to say on the subject. Just because he's a teenager doesn't mean he doesn't know what he is talking about. BTW, some of the best ideas I have ever had were inspired by my little minions (LOL).

My fave quote on Stanley's post: "And the other thing is teamwork. Yes - teamwork. Business is a team sport. It wasn’t just this one 16-year-old kid doing everything – and you can’t possibly do everything - it took a team of around 50 people to execute this launch successfully. The majority of those were joint venture partners promoting the book on their websites and to their followers. There was also my team over at my publisher who handled the technical side of getting the book published and into bookstores. I also had to outsource many of the things which I weren’t as good as or didn’t have time to do (and I would have outsourced even more if I could start all over again), such as graphics and ad copy. Do what you’re best and delegate the rest. And of course, I got myself a mentor. I wasn’t an expert in the area of book marketing so I got somebody who I could ask for guidance. This is something vitally important to anybody planning to get into business - get a mentor. Pretty much all the successful entrepreneurs in the world had mentors, e.g. Warren Buffett’s mentor was Benjamin Graham."

Kudos and congrats to Stanley on his book launch entitled, "eMillions: Behind-the-Scenes Stories of 14 Successful Internet Millionaires." You can order it on Amazon.com here.

Rosemarie Pena

The wonderful thing about social media is that you never know who you are going to meet and become friends with. The potential to connect is available on so many levels I would never presume to define the variables that make on-line relationships grow. A Tweet-peep here and a Facebook there... a third party introduction... everywhere you look there's an ActiveRainer...

People looking to connect usually find a way to fulfill their expectations. Sometimes they exceed our wildest dreams. Other times, we are saddened by our level of disappointment. We don't always get what we want, but once in a while a real gem will appear and when that person materializes you find yourself wondering, "how did I get so lucky to stumble across you?" In this case, it was a third party introduction between Tweet-peeps. Several of my friends were already following her, so (me being a serial commenter) I decided to join the conversation (LOL). Boy am I glad that I did. :-)

When you find that gem, you begin to realize in short order that something wonderful has happened and you treasure cultivating that relationship. Out of the billions of people in cyberspace, we all get to choose our virtual affiliations and pick our friends. We start with our brick and mortar peeps and learn to slowly expand our sphere of acquaintances and influence one relationship at a time. I am happy that I picked Twitter-peep @RosePena and that she was kind enough to "follow me." Following her around has made my life very interesting (LOL). As a recreational reader I enjoy sharing books and Internet links and discovering what my friends are up to. Rose is always reading something interesting and I can count on her when it comes to learning something new every single day. My girlfriend Susan Mangigian has a wonderful group entitled Realtors and Friends That Read. I am a virtual-card carrying member and love to check out their reading selections, so I gravitate towards people who read and share their discoveries across social media accounts. :-)

One of my favorite Club Chaos traditions is the formal introduction of a friend. Amanda Hall introduced Melody Botting. Melody Botting introduced me. Now I get to introduce Rose Pena. Please go say hello to our brand new Club Chaos member. I'm looking forward to reading her very first Active Rain blog post. 

BTW, Rosemarie provides consulting and training in the following areas:  Network Systems, CMS, Interactive Multimedia, eCommerce, eMarketing, Web Hosting, Development & Design, Social Media. She has a lovely bio and is going to be working with us on the group collaborative writing project between Club Chaos and the Seth Godin Fan Club. How cool is that? I think it's awesome!

Rosemarie Pena ROCKS! Have you seen her bio? Seriously! It's Spanking-A people! Let me quote some info: "Rosemarie Peña is a graduate of Boston University and Rutgers University. She currently serves as President and CEO of I-Pavilion Institute, Inc. and President of the Black German Cultural Society, Inc. whose on-line community has created a global network of persons of color of German descent who are involved in cultural, historical and genealogical research and study. Her memberships include the Graphic Artists Guild, International Webmaster’s Association and the Association of Internet Researchers & Alpha Kappa Alpha, Sorority, Inc."

How cool is that? Awesome!

If you are not following my tweet-peep @RosePena you might want to reconsider that. She is always posting very interesting articles and I enjoy our Twitter conversations. Her latest Internet selection made me sit up and take notice because it's really, really good and involves a group writing project that turned out well...

Er, um... okay, "turned out well," that might have been an understatement. How about the collaborative writing project turned out, "freakin' awesome!" Yup! Actually, that's such a better description (LOL).

I previously posted about Club Chaos and the Seth Godin Fan Club doing a collaborative writing project so this paper has me very excited as to the possibilities regarding what we might be creating as a writing-group down the road. I am sooooo into S.G. and Donald Trump. It is an awesome example of what can be done and I hope to read other quality projects like it in the future.

BTW, here is a link to the PDF embedded in the on-line article that I think is worth your while to read. Here is her link to the post for you to check out, courtesy of Digital Media Wire:

http://www.dmwmedia.com/news/2008/12/15/analysis:-compilation-2009-social-media-predictions-worth-reading

The post is entitled, "Analysis: A Compilation of 2009 Social Media Predictions Worth Reading." BTW, it's got really nice eye candy on the cover. My Club Chaos peeps know how I feel about my eye candy. When we start writing we are going to have eye candy on every single page. I'm just sayin' ;-)

http://activerain.com/blogsview/845774/Follow-Up-to-the-Money-Train

My tweet peep @realtorrose wrote a wonderful post that I think you guys would enjoy. Don't want to spoil it for you so if you're curious about the subject of the conversation, you will just have to select the link and see for yourself. It is something that I wish I had known about a few years ago before I left for retirement from law enforcement and migrated into real estate. If you like what you read there, go follow Rose Robinson. Very nice lady who holds some interesting Twitter conversations.

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The Little Minions got to play in the snow today. I also took them on two tours of homes because I am working on two Comparative Market Analysis; one for Flushing and the other for Jamaica, NY.

We had a blast building snowmen and having snowball fights. Stephen got to pretend-drive his fave wooden car and Noah demolished his snowman creation with some of the kids in the backyard of our apartment building.

We stopped by our new construction to make sure the pipes were okay because at one point the temperature fell down to 32 degrees. I have to hold an RSVP Open House over there on Sunday, December 21, 2008 from 11:30 - 12:30. I'm looking forward to it.

For more information please visit http://www.TannStarr.com.

To schedule an appointment to view contact Carolyn Tann-Starr, Realtor, REMAX People Realty: 718-483-7339. The featured property is a 2008 2 Family Semi-Detached Contemporary (brick and concrete construction) 3 bedrooms over 3 bedrooms with private drive, full finished basement, 2 eat in kitchens, L shaped living / dining room, gas fuel, steam heat, 2 heating zones and separate hot water heaters. Close to public transportation, schools and shopping. The address is 147-50 Glassboro Avenue, Jamaica NY 11435 (off the corner of Sutphin Blvd). My kids love this place. Noah is sooo into Open Houses and Sutphin Pizza provides Spanking-A buffalo wings to go with our pizza (LOL).

We had a fun snow day. I love being a Work-At-Home-Mom (WHAM) with a hubby on vacation. Having the Big Minion around is nice and The Little Minions have a way of making work not feel like work (LOL). Here's a photo-montage of where we've been today. Enjoy! :-)

I am very thankful that my girlfriend Melodious made this information available for a re-blog.

http://www.thomasmore.org/downloads/sb_thomasmore/DepartmentoftheTreasury-Complaint.pdf

It's moments like these I love being a paralegal obsessed with recreational reading. :-)

18 fascinating pages! You guys have soooooo got to read this Federal Lawsuit Complaint against the bail-out disbursement to AIG. It is a real eye opener.

I do not want to spoil it for you so I will say very little up here. Instead, I want you to read this before we start chatting about it. Make sure you download it to your computers so when people think you are incorrect, assuming, or making an unsubstantiated allegation you can prove that you have your source document. :-)

I am sooooo gonna be following this case. Can you say, "made-for-TV-movie?" material (LOL). I hope they trigger Congressional hearings. Seriously! That bail-out money should be helping USA homeowners.

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The Outside Blog Minion Report

November 2008 In Review: Liz Moras

What can Carolyn Tann-Starr say about Liz Moras? Hmm...

Liz Moras, author of "Liz Moras Re/Max Chilliwack Realtor's Blog" is a dear friend of mine. I had the honor of giving Liz my very first LinkedIn reccommendation. Writing it was easy. Trying to make myself stop writing in that little dialog box was surprisingly difficult. Here's a recap of what I had to say:

"When it comes to sharing information on the process of buying and selling homes, Liz Moras creates a wonderful environment for her clients and new Realtors to learn in. Kind, patient, knowledgeable and friendly with high ethical standards, she works diligently to provide her clients and cooperating brokers with the most positive real estate experience possible. Not only can Liz be counted on to provide excellent customer service, she is a results oriented professional, a talented photographer and a very dedicated blogger who frequently utilizes the superior technology of the Active Rain Real Estate Network. She administers a professional virtual organization there and her work has won awards and been the subject of multiple features. I am very proud and pleased to recommend her. She is a wonderful person and a very good friend."

I mean every word from the bottom of my heart. Although we are geographically apart, Active Rain has bridged the distance across nations, making it possible for us to be together every single day while she is in Canada and I am in the USA. If we are not on Skype chatting about our lives, we are e-mailing behind the scenes or commenting on each others blog posts. We write on the walls at Facebook. We update our news streams in LinkedIn. We're gal pals in Twitter. We trade photographs and talk, and talk, and talk away when ever the mood hits us to strike up a conversation.

The Internet is a beautiful thing. It also give you the opportunity to learn about my girlfriend Liz.

She's just started a new job at Keller Williams. While in training for her new position, she came to TX and caught up with some mutual friends. With all that she had going on, she found the time to show a buddy a kindness by re-blogging a post.  She comes up with fun ways of keeping us up to date regarding her travel adventures. She will take you on a shopping spree so you can discover beautiful local spots, quick to share a smile and give thanks, she will take you on vacation and joke about birthdays. 

A very talented photographer, she takes you on wonderful tours, like through Fairfield Island, Rotary Trail, and my fave: Fall in Fort Langley.

I am in a private war with myself from dawn to dusk. I do not want to compare my career with the career of anyone else because I'm not living their life, I am living my life. I do not want to compare my blog posts to the blog posts of others because they do not know what I know, they can not get into my head, or discern my heart, or recognize my fears, joys, pains and disappointments that hide within my soul. I like being my own unique self, and I have a question for you regarding the right-wrong squabbles that have been going on in the forums:

As a respected member of this community who is very dearly loved, what advice can you give new bloggers who are just starting out to help them find their own voice?

I have found mine and have been answering this question from a new writer's point of view. I would like to hear answers from people who have been around longer than I have. There is no "right" or "wrong" but there is inspiration waiting in the wings of your collective wisdom.

When did you know you had finally discovered your writing style (or unique voice)?

ActiveBob and AR have an awesome project that could use your help. It involves a very special family:

Uni-sphere, Flushing Meadows Park, Queens County, New York

This is our second Club Chaos Eye Candy event where we run parallel but dueling contests: ONE for PHOTOGRAPHY (Dec-ECP12) and ONE for VIDEO (Dec-ECV12). As previously stated, we are looking for your very best eye candy ladies and gentlemen and we want you to submit quality work worthy of a featured post.

Club Chaos will be hosting this Active Rain Contest with a little help from our friends, so please pay attention to what is mandatory and what is optional. As requested, we rotated some of the groups and have introduced Fraishe Aire and PAWS into the mix.

Each member has a choice of entering one or both contests. 200 points awarded per contest entry. If the work submitted is selected for placement, the 200 entry points will be rolled into the winning point spread. Contestants may only post one OUTSIDE BLOG link for each selected media a candidate decides to work in (e.g. you can not posts two entries for photography or two for video, but you can post an AR Outside Blog link for one contest category each.)

The panel consists of 5 judges: Michael Starr (NY), Melody Botting (TX), Amanda Hall (TX), Cindy Tsui (NY) and Carolyn Tann-Starr (NY).

Members choosing to participate must design and publish their original content specifically for Localism.com and their Active Rain Outside Blog. "Members Only" posts are prohibited from entry. All entries must be PG-13 Rated.

Active Rain Channel: "Club Chaos Eye Candy" has been created for your entries.

CONTEST RULES:

Section 1. [A] Participants must join the Active Rain group "Outside Blogs." [B] Help and the directions for setting up your Active Rain Outside Blog can be found on the group's home page written and explained by Active Brad. [C] All contest banter must remain PG-13. Do not post inappropriate photographs in the comment sections. [D] We will only accept AR Outside Blog links (which is not the same as the main dashboard where syndication of posts to Loacalism and Outside Blogs transpire by checking off submission boxes).

Section 2. [A] Participants must post contest submission(s) in the group "Outside Blogs" and one of the following 5 other groups: (1) Fraiche Aire (public); (2) Diary of a Realtor (public); (3) Whacked (public); (4) Positive Attitude For The Weary Soul (public) and (D5) Club Chaos (by invitation only: current members). You must post your contest submission links in the comment section of this official contest post in order for your post(s) to be judged and added to the blog post roll.

Section 3. You must post your contest submission(s) in Localism and the AR Outside Blog. Failing to do so disqualifies you. This is a very important point so I will say it again: FAILING TO DO SO DISQUALIFIES YOU... The contest judges are prohibited from entering as panel members but may participate in other events they are not actively judging, including future CC Eye Candy contests.

Note: 1. Every entry must be original content created by the participant. 2. Submissions must be titled "Club Chaos Eye Candy" and tagged to separate the contest entries. Meta Tags: Club Chaos Eye Candy DecECP12 (Photography Eye Candy) Club Chaos Eye Candy DecECV12 (Video Eye Candy).  Failing to use the appropriate Meta Tags to identify your contest submissions will result in your contest points not being awarded. Failing to publish the appropriate AR-OB links in the comment section of this OFFICIAL CONTEST post will result in your creation not being reviewed and no points will be awarded. 4. Minimum Post Requirements: 100 words and 5 Photographs and/or 100 words and one 1.5 minute video. (It would be nice if you would act like you were writing for a feature, but 100 words will do. It isn't the quantity, it's the quality!) 5. Do not combine two entries on one post. Do not submit multiple videos on one post. Do not exceed 5 minutes with your video submission. Do not include music unless (a) you own the copyright or (b) have written permission from the rights owner to use their music (I will spot check if you do). Do not include any television or radio transmissions or visuals in the background of your videos. Do not trespass on any property to complete your project.

2000 points for 1st Place in Photography, 2000 points for 1st Place in Video.

1500 points for 2ndPlace in Photography, 1500 points for 2nd Place in Video.

1000 points for 3rd Place in Photography, 1000 points for 3rd Place in Video.

500 points for 4th Place in Photography, 500 points for 4th Place in Video.

Each contest entry: 200 points. WINNERS WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON 01/12/2009

2000 points for 1st Place in Photography: Elizabeth Weintraub

2000 points for 1st Place in Video: Steve @AVT

1500 points for 2ndPlace in Photography: Celeste "Sally" Cheeseman

1500 points for 2nd Place in Video: Kristin Moran

1000 points for 3rd Place in Photography: Sharon Tara

1000 points for 3rd Place in Video: No entry, not awarded.

500 points for 4th Place in Photography: Colleen and Joe Lane

500 points for 4th Place in Video: No entry, not awarded.

*** UPDATE*** If you do not have an Outside Blog we will accept the Localism link to make the playing field fair because the OB availability recently changed mid-contest and people had issues trying to set them up during the upgrade. Get me my links posted before 5:45 AM and you are in the contest." Thank you for the e-mails.

Video Submissions:

Kristin Moran Outside Blog

Steve @ AVT Outside Blog

Photography Submissions:

Sharon Tara Outside Blog

Sharon Alters Outside Blog

Lizette Fitzpatrick Outside Blog

Sylvia Dukes Outside Blog

Elizabeth Weintraub Outside Blog

Steve @AVT Outside Blog

Cheryl Willis Outside Blog

Celeste "Sally" Cheeseman Outside Blog

Barb Szabo Outside Blog

Colleen and Joe Lane Outside Blog

JaneAnne Inside Blog  (pending Outside Blog link - LOL)

Marianne Snygg Outside Blog

Julie Nelson Inside Blog (pending Outside Blog link - LMAO)

I want to quote my Tweet peep Jeff Keni Pulver (@JeffPulver): "...while we can outsource many things, it is not possible to outsource fun. Which in turn reminds me that we can not outsource our life. We need to make our own fun happen."

You guys are such an important part of my life. I love you dearly. I have lots of fun here and enjoy sharing my life with you all. I sent the additional information to Active Bob so he can award everyone their contests points. I will be posting the Winter Eye Candy Contest Official Post early this evening. Looking forward to lots and lots of more fun (LOL).

A virtual hug to my first 5 subscribers, and a big virtual dating game holiday kiss to every single one of you.

With lots of love, Carolyn. :-)

P.S. Now get back to work! Bring me my eye candy! I want video! (LMAO)

Marie Meyer, Orange County New York Realtor®
Marie Antoinette's Hudson Valley Real Estate Blog

Paddy Pizappi PineBush & Hudson Valley NY Real Estate
Paddy's Blog

Laura Watts
Laura's Blog

Lizette Fitzpatrick, Lexington KY Real Estate
Blog de la Lizette

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Rate A Home Blog

http://stylish-moms.com/

If you would like to "bag the best in fashion trends and consumer news" check out the link above. I've been hanging out in the website and like the Admin post regarding, "How To Avoid Identity Theft During The Holidays" 

There are a host of other interesting tidbits, like "Yummie Tummie" and "Food and Drink." You may also want to check out the post entitled, "Protect iPods with iCage from MasterLock." Now there is a useful holiday purchase to make. Do you have any idea how often my 2.7 year old makes off with the electronics? I wish they would make one of these for my cell phone (LOL).

Follow @StylishMoms on Twitter for some interesting tweets and the latest post updates from the website. Enjoy!

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The Outside Blog Minion Report

November 2008 In Review: Kari A. Battaglia

Kari's Outside Blog

This is a person who quotes Theodore Roosevelt when she reflects on giving thanks: "Let us remember that, as much has been given us, much will be expected from us, and that true homage comes from the heart as well as from the lips, and shows itself in deeds." Theodore Roosevelt. She also makes very interesting use of the re-blog option.

Have you seen her recipe for fresh cranberry sauce? I was happy to discover it was surprisingly easy to make and the little minions loved participating in the activity. Kari also gives great advice about protecting your laptop and shares what she learned from a friend's misfortunes. I enjoyed reading about her first Active Rain lead. I was introduced to her blog while I was Googling Eco friendly and green real estate terminology for research on an upcoming project. She wrote an interesting article on the subject and I think you may enjoy it. Don't forget to check out her link embeds.

Realtors are so much more than their listings and market reports.I hope you will take a moment to go check out her blog.

BTW, if you live near Dunlap, TN Kari has this AWESOME 15 acre spot with a wet weather creek bordering the property. I am into eye candy and I have to tell you this place is Spanking-A. It has beautiful mountain views and is only approximately 1 mile to HWY 111. She reports that the land has been recently cleared, there are no restrictions and the lot is within the city limits. How cool is that? City water and electric at main road, HWY 127 North. Will subdivide to three 5 acre lots. (Note: the owner is related to Florida license real estate professional). If you want to peek at it, call Kari. You can check it out by clicking on this link.
 

If you are seriously considering relocating from NY to GA, you have to give my girlfriend Julie Chapman a call. She has a wonderful website and lovely homes to show you. Please feel free to visit http://www.JulieChapman.com for more information.