I am part of a great group of women called Social Media Moms (read the interview with the founder Kadi Prescott), and I thought I’d feature some of the best links from the great bloggers in our group on Sundays. Enjoy!

SOCIAL MEDIA MOMS HOME LINKS

SOCIAL MEDIA MOMS FOOD LINKS

SOCIAL MEDIA MOMS TRAVEL LINKS

SOCIAL MEDIA MOMS FASHION LINKS

SOCIAL MEDIA MOMS FAMILY LINKS

SOCIAL MEDIA MOMS LIFESTYLE LINKS

SOCIAL MEDIA MOMS INSPIRATIONAL LINKS

SOCIAL MEDIA MOMS SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS

Blog Conference Packing List at A Daily Pinch
Social Media Office on the Go – Windows phone at The Divine Miss Mommy
An Open Letter to Bloggers at Kitten a Go-Go

Sweden’s Loreen won European Song Contest

UPDATED POST:
Watch the music video of Loreen and listen to the TOP song playing in Europe right now.

Sweden’s Loreen just won the European Song Contest with the song Euphoria, and this song is climbing up in the music charts on iTunes and Spotify in Europe like crazy. Loreen was humble, and thanked Sweden for believing in her in a live TV interview afterwards. I have a feeling we will hear much more about Loreen in the future, she has so much star quality. Loreen also made headlines for taking time off during the Eurovision Song Contest to discuss about possible human rights violations in Azerbaijan, this year’s host country of the song contest.

Loreen: Euphoria

What I’m listening right now: Loreen’s Euphoria.

Download it:
Itunes Loreen: Euphoria
Spotify: Loreen: Euphoria

Euphoria won the Swedish Melodifestivalen earlier this year and Loreen will be representing represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest with this song held in Baku, Azerbaijan. (Really, there is a country named Azerbaijan.)

More about Melodiefestivalen & Eurovision Song Contest

The Melodifestivalen is this huge song contest, where Swedish songwriters and singers compete who’s going to represent Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest. It’s a pretty big deal in Sweden, and this is probably the most watched TV shows. It’s like American Idol, but more popular in Sweden. The most well known Melodifestivalen and Eurovision Song Contest winning Swedish song is probably ABBA’s Waterloo from 1974.

Have you heard of the Eurovision Song Contest before..? Eurovision Song Contest is a huge song contest held in Europe every year since 1956, and is one of the longest-running television programs in the world. It is also one of the most watched non-sporting events on TV in the world, with anything between 100 million and 600 million viewers. Each European country in the European Broadcasting Union submits a song to this contest and then it’s held live and broadcasted all around the world. It’s like musical SuperBowl and the winner is voted on the live show by each country giving points to the other countries.

I’m excited to announce a new contributing writer for Skimbaco Lifestyle! Kadi Prescott will join us together with Candice Kahn of their new joint venture, the mom fashion site Birthing Hip, to bring us some LA flavor and California sunshine. Kadi and Candice will be have a weekly feature with the hippest tips from Hollywood, and they will inspire moms to be fashionable and everyone to be more adventurous.

Kadi Prescott is a mom of seven and she is the ultimate Social Media Mom, she is a connector extraordinaire, and in fact she is the founder of a very active group called Social Media Moms.

Interview with Kadi Prescott of Social Media Moms and the Birthing Hip

Katja: I know you get asked this a lot… but I’ve always thought you as one of those “do it all” women, who makes everything happen, so for once more.. Tell us your secret how you keep it going?

Kadi: The secret to doing it all lies in letting go. Let go of having a spotless house. Let go of the negative things that people say about your goals. Let go of the idea that you cannot achieve whatever you set out to do. Let go of the fear of failure, for you cannot have success without failure. Let go of mommy guilt. Let go of feeling like you have to do it all yourself. Let go of the thought that you have to be a man to be successful. Sure, they have more clout in the business world but they still manage to miss the toilet every time they use the restroom.

Katja: If you could achieve one thing with your social media career, what would it be?

Kadi: I want to be known as a woman who inspires other women to live their dreams. I know it sounds cliche, but it is true. I see myself as the future Oprah of moms.

Katja: How would you inspire other women, especially moms, to go after their dreams and just do it? Especially on the days when it’s difficult to even find motivation to do laundry.

Kadi: There are days when I can’t even bring myself to brush my hair. I’m not gonna lie. Depression is something that I battle on occasion. What do I do about it? Nothing. I’ll stay in bed and read, watch movies, or take the kids to the park and just sit. I literally let it pass. We all have seasons in our lives. They are ever changing. Make the best of each one and if you have a season of hibernation, then just do it and stop beating yourself up about it.

Katja: Tell us about the Birthing Hip and how did you get started with it? How do you define “mom fashion”?

Kadi: I have always loved fashion and beauty. I remember sneaking into my mom’s closet and trying on her heels when I was supposed to be napping. I was only three at the time. After becoming a mom seven times over, I have had to revamp my wardrobe. My style is the same as it has always been, eclectic and fun, but my body has changed dramatically. Instead of being glum about it, I find things that flatter my body shape. One day, I noticed how often moms in the social space were complaining about not looking and feeling beautiful. I wanted to help them rediscover their sense of style and I knew just the woman to help me, Candice Kahn. She is brilliant and I’m blessed to be her partner in Birthing Hip.

Katja: I hear the wish of you becoming the “Oprah for moms” is more than just a wish..? Is it true that you are working on your own show?

Kadi: Ohhhh yes…I have been working on a web show for moms and by moms for the last year. It has been a lot of work and I’ve had to give up my paying jobs to do so, which made it tough on our big family. There were times when I wondered if I was making a mistake and if I should give up on my dream and just collect a pay check like everyone else. But I’m not everyone else. I believe that I was meant to help other moms via social media and to give up would be an injustice to myself, my family and my Maker. The show will be launching this year and I am so excited about it!

Katja: Love it! What does skimbaco lifestyle mean to you? How do you live life to the fullest in your everyday life?

Kadi: Skimbaco means letting go of the things that don’t matter and grasping every opportunity to experience joy. Joy is the thing that makes an adult giggle uncontrollably like a five year old. It is the thing that makes us sigh with contentment. It is the thing that causes our eyes to open wide and our spirits to soar. It is my goal to feel that way every day that I am on this Earth and to help other moms find joy, whatever it may be.

Connect with Kadi

Kadi is all over the internet.. Read her parenting blog Our Seven Seeds and get the latest on mom fashion on Birthing Hip.

Twitter: @KadiPrescott, @SMmoms and @BirthingHip
Facebook: facebook.com/kadiprescott
Pinterest: pinterest.com/kadiprescott

Happy Memorial Day weekend!! You know what Memorial Day means, right? It means it’s time to pull out the white shoes, white jeans, white dresses and everything else white! Summer is here, go white. Here are some white fashion finds I’m drooling for right now.

Fashion Friday

I’m linking up to Fashion Friday posts at Blonde Episodes and Musings of a Housewife, check out their sites for more fun Friday fashion.

SUBSCRIBE TO SKIMBACO FASHION UPDATES.

Brita Meringue Cake

This Scandinavian dessert/cake is amazing. Like really amazing.
Like the best-I’ve-ever-made amazing, and I even messed up the recipe and it didn’t matter (read more below the recipe and I’ll explain).

Brita cake, also called meringue cake is one of those Scandinavian desserts that you can’t miss. It’s popular in Sweden and Finland, and it’s one of my favorites. Basically it is a cake with a cake crust with a meringue crust on the top, baked in the oven at the same time, and then assembled with layers of whipped cream and berries, most often with strawberries. There are many versions of this dessert cake, and it is THE Scandinavian summer party recipe to try. Since rhubarb is in season, I decided to make my Brita cake with rhubarb and cardamon whipped cream with strawberries and made my recipe inspired by the one I found at Valio.fi. Please read the recipe with some thought before getting started, I have some tips below and I recommend making the rhubarb filling the day before.

The tart rhubarb combined with the sweetness of the meringue cake, with cardamon whipped cream and lemon balm and strawberries… this is what Scandinavian summer tastes like.

Rhubarb Strawberry Brita Cake with Cardamon Whipped Cream

Ingredients:
CAKE:
1 stick of butter, room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
2 egg yolks
1 cup flour
2 tbsp baking powder
2/3 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2. Beat the butter with electric mixer until it’s soft, add sugar, and mix until fluffy.

3. Separate the egg yolks from the whites when they are still cold, be careful not to get any yolks to the whites. Add egg yolks, one at a time to the butter & sugar mix and continue beating.

4. Mix flour and baking powder. Add flour mix with a shifter and milk a little bit at a time to the butter mix while mixing with low speed. Beat until batter is mixed well.

5. Pour the batter onto a baking sheet on parchment paper and spread it evenly.

MERINGUE LAYER

2 egg whites
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla sugar

1. Make sure the egg whites are cold, and your bowl and mixer clean and dry.

2. Whip egg whites until stiff peaks form and even when you turn the bowl upside down it won’t fall out.

3. Add sugar a little bit at the time and keep mixing until the texture is thick and has a little bit shiny consistency and peaks form (Read more tips below).

4. Spread the meringue mix on the top of the cake batter mix evenly.

5. Bake at 350F for 20-30 minutes, until the meringue layer is light brown.

RHUBARB FILLING
*Can be prepared the day before*
2 sticks of rhubarb
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup of water
1 tbsp potato flower

1. Chop the rhubarb into small slices and cook it in a small pot with the water.

2. Add sugar and the potato flour after the rhubarb has gotten a little soft and keep cooking on slow temperature until the consistency has turned thicker and most of the water evaporated.

3. Let the rhubarb filling cool completely, the best is if you prepare this a day before.

WHIPPED CREAM FILLING

Pint / 18 oz cups heavy whipping cream
2 tbsp vanilla sugar
2 tbsp ground cardamon
Strawberries
Lemon balm

1. Whip the whipping cream and add sugar and the cardamon (optional, but highly recommended!). Mix the whipped cream filling with the rhubarb filling carefully.

2. Split the cooled down cooked cake into half forming two rectangles – or cut small squares of the cake like I did and assemble directly on dessert plates.

3. Assemble the cake by layering the cake, then the rhubarb-whipped cream filling and I also already added the strawberries in the mid-layer. Add the other half of the cake and finish with a little more whipped cream and strawberries and the lemon balm as garnish.

You can assemble this a several hours before, but I recommend doing the baking and the rhubarb filling the day before and then just whipping the cream and assembling before serving. As you see – I didn’t actually make a cake, this recipe is for probably 8-10 people and there are only 5 of us.. so I assembled it directly to dessert plates and saved the rest for the next day!

Note: Meringue Making Tips

I’ve made meringue before, and with good results, but for some reason I did not get it right when making this recipe. The key to making meringue is to separate the egg yolks from egg whites and have absolutely no yolks when making the meringue. You also can not have even one drop of water in the mixture and all your tools have to be completely dry.

I accomplished separating the egg whites all three times I tried it, and I whipped the egg whites until it thickens so much that you can even turn the bowl upside down and it will not move. Then you add sugar, and whip it some more until it forms to this shiny consistency and you can form peaks from it. I added vanilla sugar like it said in the recipe, and something happened and it lost its consistency. I tried it three times, and finally realized it must be something in the vanilla sugar I was using (I thought it was just sugar and vanilla, but the one I was using also had potato flour). Either way, I just let it go, and started cooking my cake since I had been pretty much failing on whipping the meringue for over an hour now.

So – this cake is supposed to have a hard meringue layers, but since I couldn’t get it right, I just spread the mixture on the cake regardless and put it in oven. The top isn’t as hard as it’s suppose to be, and it is pretty fragile making it difficult to assemble as a cake, but I learned from my mistakes and hopefully next time get it right. Well, if I want to. Because even with the messed up meringue, and assembling it directly to everyone’s plate instead of making a cake out of it, this dessert was AMAZING, and secretly I’m happy I messed up.

The bottom line: even if this cake sounds too difficult and you are afraid not to get the meringue right, IT’S OK, still give it a try! While we all love pretty cakes, we all love more YUMMY cakes, and this wins in the yumminess.

I have never cruised on Princess Cruise Lines, my preferred cruise line is the Disney Cruise Line, and I am in fact going on a cruise with them next month, can’t wait! But I couldn’t resist sharing this Princess Cruises Memorial Day sale starting today. Princess Cruises Memorial Day sale starts today and continues until the 29th, and the sale offers deals on cruises leaving from U.S. ports.

Princess Cruises Memorial Day Sale

You can save up to $1,000 per stateroom ($500 per person), plus an onboard credit of up to $100 per cabin on departures leaving from September to December of this year. Read the details here. Over 80 cruises to the Caribbean, Hawaii, Panama Canal, Mexico, Canada & New England, and the coast of California are included in the sale.

Some examples of the sale include a seven-day Caribbean sailing discounted to $599 from $799 for an inside cabin; a 14-day Hawaii cruise in a balcony cabin for $1,995 from $2,445; and a seven-day Canada & New England sailing for $599 in an inside cabin, marked down from $799.

Have you ever been on a Princess Cruises cruise? What did you think?

This is way cool.
You can download a free app called Linkin Park GP on iTunes for your iPad starting today.

It’s a game that unites rock music and high octane Formula 1 racing.
The game is created together with Linkin Park and Lotus F1 Team to promote Linkin Park’s European Tour kick-off, their new album Living Things coming out on 26th June – and the F1 Monaco Grand Prix taking place in Monaco this weekend.

I have to say, I’m completely blown away how Lotus F1 team is marketing their team in a completely new way reaching new audiences with brands that you typically don’t think as F1 “worthy” – like with Angry Birds and announcing the limited edition Angry Birds Lotus game. F1 is elite racing sports, and typically the sponsors are luxury brands. But Lotus F1 team is mixing it up with some very cool partnerships this year, one of them is with Linkin Park for the 2012 Monaco Grand Prix. This also brings Formula 1 to the masses and introduces this amazing racing sport to new audience. I hope you get excited about Formula 1 too – I’ve been a fan since Ayrton Senna.

Linkin Park GP app

The Linkin Park GP app eatures Linkin Park’s latest hit single ‘Burn it Down’ and Lotus F1 Team’s stunning E20 car. The app is made with direct input from the band, Linkin Park GP is said to be a one of a kind driving, graphical and musical experience. The app is available on iTunes as a free download from today, Thursday 24th May 2012.

Good luck for our favorite driver Kimi Räikkönen for this week’s Monaco Grand Prix.

And why I love this..

Some fun old pictures to share just for the kicks :) Just you know, you see why I am so excited to share this app even though I don’t even have an iPad (I know, must get one). I really am a Linkin Park & Formula 1 fan, and also love Monaco.

Mike Shinoda from Linkin Park and me at BlogWorld Expo in Las Vegas in 2008.

The Formula 1 experience in Singapore in 2011 (thanks to SingTel in Singapore for giving me a ticket!) was amazing.

And last but not least… Monaco has always been my dream place to see Formula 1 race, and last year promised my girls to take them there after seeing the Selena Gomez movie with the same name. The Monaco Grand Prix is still in my dreams one year, but I DID go to Monaco this spring to check out where the Monaco Grand Prix is held and walked on the very streets where they race.

If you are like me, you spend way too much time on Pinterest oohing and aaahing on things that you’d like to do. Does it sound like you? I recently wrote a post about 3 things all Pinterest users should do right now, and not surprisingly, the #3 was the most popular.

The tip was “start living your Pinterest boards”.

I encourage you to look at your Pinterest boards, and be inspired to LIVE them. And stop pinning for the sake of pinning – start pinning with the purpose of LIVING. Create a board “my finished projects” and take pictures of the Pinterest-inspired recipes, crafts and outfits you made. If you can’t seem to be filling the board – well, it’s time to get off Pinterest and start LIVING.

I’d love you to get connected with Skimbaco on Pinterest and check out how we get inspired to live life to the fullest. While I haven’t followed my own advice of creating the “my finished projects” board (that’s the next one, I promise!), I do have a Travel/Places I’ve been board, and it is my personal favorite even though it only has a fraction of the places where I have been – but it makes me smile every time I look at it and think “wow, I HAVE lived life to the fullest.”

Plan a Party on Pinterest

Unique Party Favor company Beau-coup is encouraging us to use Pinterest to plan parties and are hosting a Pinterest contest kicking off today (details below). Creating different party Pinterest boards is my favorite way to collect recipes and decorating ideas for upcoming family parties.

PARTY THEMED PINTEREST BOARDS TO FOLLOW:

Scandinavian Summer Themed Party
Party Decorating
Summer Party Ideas
Party Food and Cocktails
Birthday Celebrations

Pinterest Contest – Picture the Perfect Party!

Check out Beau-coup’s Pinterest contest and enter to win a Gift Certificate to Beau-coup. If you love planning every detail of the perfect party, this is your chance to express your personal creativity. They are giving away three gift certificates for the most creative themed birthday party boards on Pinterest. Show your themed birthday party ideas for a chance to win up to $250 so you can throw the ultimate themed birthday party!

Instructions

Follow Beau-coup on Pinterest.
Check out their “Rainbow Themed Birthday Party” board for inspiration.
Think up your own creative birthday theme and make a new board.
Name your new board “Beau-coup Contest + Your Theme” (e.g., Beau-coup Contest Pirate Theme Birthday).
Pin original images to your board (no repins) to complete your theme. Make sure your board has at least 10 pins total, including two Beau-coup products. Judging will be based on originality and how well your theme is captured.
Submit your entry via this form by June 4, 2012.
When you’re done, post a link to your board under the comments section of the Contest Pin. Winners will be announced on June 6, 2012.

For more information, see the official rules.

Can I just say how much I love living in a kingdom? Because there is nothing like a good gossip what the Princess wore, and collecting plates with the pictures of the Royal family (no, really).

While Sweden is a very modern country, and the popularity of the King Carl XVI Gustaf has gone considerably down the past years, with the wedding of the Crown Princess Victoria two years ago, and now with the newborn baby, the popularity of the Royal family is soaring high. Last night kids and I were watching the Royal Christening from the Royal Chapel in Stockholm, as the little Estelle got her full name in a Royal Christening ceremony. Her full name and title is Estelle, Silvia, Ewa, Mary the Duchess of Ostergotland. Princess Estelle is truly already natural at being a Princess and part of long Royal events; she did amazingly the entire ceremony, and didn’t fuzz at all.

Crown Princess Victoria wore Elie Saab

And when it comes to fashion.. Princess Estelle wore a heirloom christening gown, has been used by the Swedish royals since 1907, and her mother the Crown Princess Victoria looked stunning in her Elie Saab dress.

Find the ELIE SAAB Short Sleeve Crepe Dress at Neiman Marcus.

SUBSCRIBE TO SKIMBACO FASHION UPDATES.

New Angry Birds 3 level game is now available exclusively from the Official Lotus F1 Team Facebook Fan Page.

‘Lotus F1 Team Angry Birds’ is a special edition of Angry Birds game designed specifically for the 2012 Monaco Grand Prix happening in Monte Carlo, Monaco this weekend. The limited time game features three playable levels and you can play them on Facebook on Lotus F1 Team fan page only.

Play the Angry Birds Lotus game now, just turn off the sound so your boss won’t hear you.