I am working with Gwynnie Bee again, and am excited to share with you my latest pick!

Here is exactly what is so awesome about Gwynnie Bee. I would have never chosen to try this on, let alone purchase it had I seen it in the store. Why? The print isn’t “me,” and I would not know how to style it.

I wore it with a black jacket (Kohl’s- Lauren Conrad), skinny navy belt, gold chain necklace, leggings and wedge heels (Jessica Simpson).

Here’s another look. I loved this outfit so much, I took a selfie in the bathroom. Classy, right?

With Gwynnie Bee, I can take a chance on something I would not normally wear. I can step out of my comfort zone and try new things without committing to actually buying them.

Speaking of…

Help! How do I Style This?

I took a HUGE chance and put this in my Gwynnie Bee Closet. Now? Um, what do I do with it? I really want to try to make it work. I would have never chosen this off the rack in the store, but now, I am going to find a way to rock this fringe skirt.

What would you wear with it? Next week, I’ll show off how I pulled this fringe skirt look off!

Be sure to follow me on Twitter and Instagram for up-to-date photos and info all about Gwynnie Bee.

How Gwynnie Bee Plus Size Fashion Works

1. Request an invite from Gwynnie Bee for a 30-day free trial.
2. Choose a monthly clothing plan. You can choose three items a month up to 10 items a month. Each plan comes with its own monthly fee.
3. Once you choose your plan, browse Gwynnie Bee’s collection of clothing. Gwynnie Bee carries sizes 10 through 24 in designer names like Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, DKNY and Michael Kors.
4. Place the items you want in your personal virtual closet.
5. Choose the items you want sent to you, and in about 3 to 5 days, your items will arrive.

You can wear the items as much as you want, as long as you want. And when you’re done with an item, simply return it in the pre-paid addressed envelope and the next item in your closet will be automatically shipped to you.

What I like most about Gwynnie Bee is the selection of plus size trendy fashion. Since I am not a risk taker when it comes to fashion, the selection encourages me to step out of my comfort zone and try something new without actually purchasing it. And Gwynnie Bee is constantly refreshing the selection of clothing so you’ll never utter the words “I have nothing to wear” again!

Ready to Try Gwynnie Bee?

Request an invite to Gwynnie Bee to receive a free 30-day trial. No commitment clothing, and no commitment needed. If you don’t like Gwynnie Bee {which will be impossible} you are not obligated to do anything else.

Ladies, if you are like me and have a spring filled with blogger conferences, events, parties and weekend getaways, Gwynnie Bee will be SO helpful in expanding your wardrobe with plus size trendy fashion you might not otherwise buy on your own.

Also, be sure to check out the Gwynnie Bee Pinterest board for awesome style tips and new products from their collection.

As a Gwynnie Bee Blogger, I am provided clothing at no cost for 2 months. I am compensated for any sign-ups that use the affiliate links within the text.

The post Rent Your Wardrobe With Gwynnie Bee appeared first on Girls' Lunch Out.

But there is one, giant traffic source each of us know well…

If the Blogosphere had a Bible, Google would be the index… and the index to the index. Google is the way people search for things online. Things like your content on your blog.

For me, Google accounts for 98% of search engine traffic to my blog.

THAT is why Google matters. And THAT is why you need to know how Google searches your blog.

I’m not going to talk SEO here, because that is a topic for another day, but I think it is important for all of us to see how Google searches your blog. Because if more people are using Google than any other search engine to search and discover content, don’t you want to know how Google is looking through your site?

3 ways Google searches your blog

1. Web robots, crawlers spiders- Oh my!

Google calls them robots, I like to think of them as crawly spiders…but not creepy. These “fingers” or “legs” crawl over your blog, identifying searchable terms. It’s the way Google determines if there is new and/or updated pages and content on your site. Unlike a spider, the robot systematically looks through your blog. It’s programmed to look at text, links, and content like title posts.

If you are on WordPress, an easy way is to install an XML sitemap plug-in. Let Google know you are here and a force to be reckoned with.

2. Indexing your content

Once pages are crawled, Google processes the information it finds on your site and compiles a massive index of the content. What does it look for? Content tags, title tags and ALT tags.

Does those tags look familiar? They should. Each time you post, you have the option of not only categorizing your posts, but tagging your posts as well – or, providing relevant key words to describe what you are blogging about.

The ALT tags? Your photos. You know when you mouse over a photo, a small tag pops up with the title of that photo? That is an ALT tag and is searchable by Google.

So, for example, rather than call this photo what it is to me: A lot of work, if I want it to be searchable, I need to tag it as I would want others to search for it: Cupcake topper flag.

Everything you put on your site- be it video, photos or text content, should be tagged appropriately. What do I do? I think “How would I search for this on Google?” and that is my tag. Here is a great link for more information about tagging photos.

Perhaps the quickest way to optimize SEO {though we’re not talking straight-up SEO here today} is choosing a select group of keywords and phrases that best represent your content and site, and using those keywords and phrases throughout your site in strategically placed locations such as H1, H2 and H3 tags, as well as ALT text, your meta description (meta keywords aren’t really weighted as much as they used to be) and content within your blog.

3. Page Rank – more than a popularity contest

Or is it? Page rank, in Google’s terms, is:

the measure of the importance of a page based on the incoming links from other pages. In simple terms, each link to a page on your site from another site adds to your site’s PageRank.

-from Google

What does this mean to me and you? The more tag, the more you use Google’s guidelines to help you along the way, the better your page will rank and the higher it will show up in its search results.

But another thing to consider is, getting back to content, how Google views the overall content of your blog- not just your tags and meta tags. It also looks at fonts {using a H tag rather than just bolding important points in your post}, and placement of text to rank your page.

That’s pretty cool stuff, no? And pretty damn intimidating.

Personally, I can’t say I think about every single post like I should when it comes to tagging, but if I have a great post that I think can get a lot of traction, I’ll research keywords for tagging, I will choose photos that are appropriate and search-friendly,and I’ll take the time to really think about headers, font styles and titles.

For more information about Google, and for tools you can use as a site owner, visit their Webmaster essentials page. I found the links and information to be really useful.

Read more from the ABCs of Building a Better Blog Series: A is for Audience and Analytics. B is for Business Cards and Branding. C is for Calendar , Conferences, and Creativity. D is for Design and Disclosures. E is for Editing. F is for Followers , Friendships, and Facebook. G is for Guest Post and Google.

The post G is for Google: 3 Ways Google Searches Your Blog appeared first on Girls' Lunch Out.

The results, according to an infographic in a recent article in PC Mag, may surprise you. While women are, as a whole, using social media more than our male counterparts, there’s an interesting divide in which social media platforms each gender seems to prefer.

The post Social Media Use: Men vs Women (infographic) appeared first on Girls' Lunch Out.

Establish rules. Set a game plan for work-at-home/play-at-home cohesiveness on Day 1 of summer break. Talk to your children about what you expect from them while you work and what they can expect from you. Once you have outlined the expectations, make them visible. Get a piece of poster board and markers and make a “rules list” that you can hang in your kitchen, playroom, or on the door to your home office so everyone can clearly see them.

Plan for snack attacks. Have easily accessible grab-and-go foods ready for your kids so you don’t have to break your concentration every five minutes to satisfy a food craving. Fill plastic baggies or Tupperware containers with sliced fruits and veggies to keep in your fridge, prep the pantry with pretzels and trail mix, and assign a reusable bottle to each of your kids to keep them hydrated and reduce plastic waste.

Keep a sunny day stockpile. If you have a fenced in backyard, aka a kiddie corral, setting up a sunny day stockpile of outdoor activities is essential. Find a large plastic bin and fill it with packs of sidewalk chalk, bubbles, water balloons, washable paints, jump ropes, Frisbees, bouncy balls, and anything else that catches your eye from the dollar bins at your local discount superstore. When the weather’s nice, break out the goodie bin and let the kids go nuts!

Be sure to swipe sunscreen on the little maniacs as they race out the door. While they play, you can work in front of a window with a backyard view, outside under a tree, or at your patio table.

Get Help. Throw out your work-at-home momma guilt with the bathwater. It is impossible to simultaneously work a full day and maintain a June Cleaver-esque standard of homemaking. Everyone can use a little help from time to time, so give yourself permission to ask for it. If you have a work-at-home job in customer service, technical support, or another field that demands a quiet, distraction free work environment, make a childcare plan. Consider the following:

• Enroll your children in special summer day camps or preschool programs
• Arrange for a close friend or family member to watch your kids, either in or out of your home
• Organize a carpool-inspired daycare exchange with other work-at-home moms in your area so you can share and rotate childcare responsibilities
• Hire a part-time babysitter

Set a work schedule and stick to It. Regardless of how many fun things you find for your kids to do during summer break, what they want most is to spend time with you. Establishing a work schedule that incorporates solid blocks of work and play time will be most beneficial to your household. Your schedule should also incorporate a clearly defined time for meal breaks, fun time with the kids, and a stopping point.

What suggestions do you have for keeping kids occupied during summer break?

Kimberly Back is the Social Media Strategist and Senior Writer for VirtualVocations, an online job compilation service that helps job-seekers find legitimate telecommute opportunities while also providing useful and educational resources for remote workers. Connect with VirtualVocations on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google+.

The post Tips for Working From Home During Summer Break appeared first on Girls' Lunch Out.

Yes, guest bloggers.

Some of the changes that came along with Google’s Panda and Penguin updates penalizes “black hat SEO,” or SEO tactics that are a spammy ( to put it in a nutshell). One of those black hat SEO tactics is some spammy-type of link building schemes. You know them when you see them. They are the people that want to guest post on your site and shove in the face of your readers some very awkward anchor-text html links.

This post is not about that.

Today, I want to talk about how to be a good guest poster – how to help your friends who have similar blogging interests as you, and how to make their lives easier by providing them with interesting, original content.

1. Fit the niche.

If friend A is a craft blogger, and you are a fitness blogger, writing about your latest Zumba class on her crafty blog is not going to be a great fit. You don’t have to all of the sudden love your glue gun to get out a great post about crafting, but you can find a way to keep your “self” as you blog on her site.

Find a way to relate to her content with your own. Figure out what she blogs about, and how her readers can enjoy something to bring to her table.

2. Ask to blog, but don’t always expect a return.

Sometimes, it is just good to be nice and give a little of yourself without expecting a major favor in return. Getting your words in front of her readers is going to give you exposure to a new audience. Let that be enough, and enjoy it.

3. Format your blog post the way she wants it.

Ask the blog owner how she wants her post. Personally, I love when bloggers give me their blog post in HTML format, because I can just copy and paste without bringing over any wonky formatting a program like Word can bring into my blog. Other bloggers might want it in a text doc, while others prefer a Word doc.

Make it easy for your blog friends and format the way they would want it.

4. Give them original content.

You might have an oldie but goodie blog post you think more people should read, and that is fine, but don’t leave it “as is.” Change it up a bit and make it original so she knows she is getting something fresh and different.

Bonus points: Create some original content based on a blog post she’s already written. Expand on one of her popular posts!

5. Optimize your content.

Yes, so a little SEO work on your post. You want your post to be a stand-out article, right? She is going to see all the analytics. Do her a favor and give her some quality content that has been vetted with the Google keyword tool.

Bonus points:  Let her know 1 or 2 phrases you optimized for so she can title her URL with a keyphrase, use it in her SEO plug in, and title it correctly.

6. Attach a photo.

Photos get more attention and make a blog post attractive. DON’T swipe a photo. DO choose an original photo you’ve taken yourself, or purchased the rights to.

Bonus points: Make it pretty enough for Pinterest. Add text and jazz it up a bit in Photoshop or PicMonkey.

7. Include a bio.

Don’t go telling your life story, but DO explain who you are. Include relevant links like your Facebook and Pinterest pages, and DO keep it interesting. DO include a photo of yourself.

Bonus points: Add links to your 3 favorite posts from your own site.

8. Promote it!

When your blog goes live on her site, promote it! Tweet it! Promo it on your own site! Tell all your friends on Facebook! Help your friend be successful.

9. Engage with her readers.

Go back to the site and reply to people’s comments. Talk to her friends on her wall. Don’t set it and forget it, go back and engage!

10. Thank her.

Let’s be honest, she helped you out by letting your guest post on her site. Make sure you say thank you. Those 2 words go a long way.

Read more from the ABCs of Building a Better Blog Series: A is for Audience and Analytics. B is for Business Cards and Branding. C is for Calendar , Conferences, and Creativity. D is for Design and Disclosures. E is for Editing. F is for Followers , Friendships, and Facebook. G is for Guest Post.

The post G is for Guest Post: How to be a Good Guest Poster appeared first on Girls' Lunch Out.

I’d love to show them to family like the one of my oldest son hitting a double or my youngest son singing a silly song, which had us laughing for hours. But most of the videos are too long to send and I don’t want these videos on YouTube (there are some things I like to keep private).

That’s why I’m so thankful that I found a new video sharing iOS app that lets me send and share instantly with family like my in-laws, who live out of state. They are thrilled to receive videos moments after they happened.

Let me introduce you to Joya!

Joya is a new iPhone app that allows you to easily send one or more videos to friends and family regardless of file size. This means no more missed tee ball games, karate lessons or school concerts.

Within seconds, the video is in the hands of your friends and family without them having to download anything.  They just click on a link and view the video.

It’s great that I can send it to family in a safe and easy way.  My in-laws love it because they can see what the boys are up to and my husband loves it because he doesn’t hear, “you don’t send enough videos of the kids,” anymore. So it really is a win win for everyone!

The best part is you can share videos no matter how long they are. No more waiting to upload it to YouTube or download it to a computer. You can create a list of family members, friends, and even teammates who you would like to share videos with.

Here’s how it works:

• Download the free Joya app on your iPhone.
• Add contact information for your favorite people (cell or email) to your “favorites” .
• Connect to your iPhone library.
• Send one or multiple videos to your list of favorites.

•  The recipient will receive a link via text or email, click it and watch it. No iPhone or software required.
• It’s easy to see your library of videos.

• You can also see when someone is viewing your videos, pretty cool if you ask me.

Two more fun features:

1.  I can use Joya to get the videos off my phone and on the computer where I can download them easily.
2.  I can let my boys watch videos through this app, so there is no danger of deleting (a lifesaver when you have kids).

Joya is compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation), iPod touch (5th generation) and iPad. Requires iOS 5.1 or later. This app is optimized for iPhone 5.

For more on Joya, please visit the iTunes store or http://getjoya.com.

You can also follow Joya on Twitter @getjoya or find them at Joya on Facebook.

The post Make Sharing Videos Easier with #Joya appeared first on Girls' Lunch Out.

Erica and I had the fun opportunity to interview Kristin Cavallari all about parenting, her shoe and jewelry line, and everything in between. We chatted about must-have items that she never leaves home without, three staples every woman should have in her wardrobe, and, our favorite question, who is her business mentor.

Check out the interview:

Kristin also teamed up with TiVo to celebrate the best TV moms!

Over the past few decades we’ve welcomed many iconic TV moms into our homes including Clair Huxtable, Marion Cunningham, and even Marge Simpson.  But which of these lovely ladies is considered the best TV mom of all time?

To uncover the answer, TiVo conducted their first-ever Mother’s Day TV survey to see which TV moms ranked highest with viewers. Who do you think took the crown for the funniest TV mom of all time?  And which TV mom do you miss seeing each and every week?

Here are the results:

Kristin Cavallari was in her junior year of high school when the first season of Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County began production for MTV. With her wit, charisma and girl next-door looks, Cavallari was an instant TV sensation, winning over audiences across the nation. In May of 2009, Cavallari confirmed that she would be joining the cast of the mega-popular MTV series, The Hills, as the reality-drama’s new lead girl and narrator through the last two seasons. Cavallari also joined the cast of ABC’s Dancing with the Stars, competing for the DWTS Season 13 trophy. In 2010, Kristin joined the fight to aid underprivileged children around the globe, serving as an ambassador of the children’s charity One Kid One World. In early 2011, Kristin combined her passion for fashion and love for charity by teaming up with Shoe Dazzle to design a spring shoe with proceeds benefiting One Kid One World. Most recently, Kristin became a mother with fiancé Jay Cutler, who also serves as Chicago Bears’ quarterback. The new mom has continued to stay fashionable and busy promoting her jewelry line with Pascal Mouwad and shoe line, Chinese Laundry by Kristin Cavallari, which both debuted earlier this year.

The post Our Interview with Kristin Cavallari {Video} appeared first on Girls' Lunch Out.