http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid96360194001?bclid=91018212001&bctid=105241440001

On July 19, House Beautiful’s Kitchen of the Year 2010 honor was given to a kitchen designed by Jeff Lewis of Bravo show Flipping Out. Lewis, who is in the business of real estate sales, created a modern kitchen tailored to his own needs.  His story reveals helpful rules for kitchen design:

1) Make it personal. (Use your own sense of style.)

2) Make it functional. (The practical use of space should dictate the choice of cabinets, islands, fixtures, and accessories.)

3) Make it inviting. (The kitchen tends to become the family or living room of the home, particularly on entertaining occasions. Everybody loves to congregate around food and refreshments.)

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid96360194001?bclid=91018212001&bctid=105241440001

On July 19, House Beautiful’s Kitchen of the Year 2010 honor was given to a kitchen designed by Jeff Lewis of Bravo show Flipping Out. Lewis, who is in the business of real estate sales, created a modern kitchen tailored to his own needs.  His story reveals helpful rules for kitchen design:

1) Make it personal. (Use your own sense of style.)

2) Make it functional. (The practical use of space should dictate the choice of cabinets, islands, fixtures, and accessories.)

3) Make it inviting. (The kitchen tends to become the family or living room of the home, particularly on entertaining occasions. Everybody loves to congregate around food and refreshments.)

magazines

For some, Flipboard is an easy way to stay on pace with friends’ and colleagues’ tweets and facebook updates. According to Walter S. Mossberg (”Your Own Digital Magazine,” The Wall Street Journal), the app needs tweaking, but “one of the more outstanding things about Flipboard is its ability to take plain-text tweets or Facebook updates and turn them into visuals of a shared photo or Web link in a status message.”

Basically, it’s a visual gateway of news that’s important to you. Flipboard is currently downloadable at The App Store.

magazines

For some, Flipboard is an easy way to stay on pace with friends’ and colleagues’ tweets and facebook updates. According to Walter S. Mossberg (”Your Own Digital Magazine,” The Wall Street Journal), the app needs tweaking, but “one of the more outstanding things about Flipboard is its ability to take plain-text tweets or Facebook updates and turn them into visuals of a shared photo or Web link in a status message.”

Basically, it’s a visual gateway of news that’s important to you. Flipboard is currently downloadable at The App Store.

economic area map of USA

Click on any county in the U.S. to see actual inbound and outbound movement. If your neck of the woods is getting more or less populated, check your feelings against the hard numbers.

To view the map, click on http://www.forbes.com/2010/06/04/migration-moving-wealthy-interactive-counties-map.html?preload=41047.

bedroom

Kristen Ueckert, a North Texas realtor, suggests helpful tips to mastering the master bedroom (”Easy Ways to Spruce Up Your Master Bedroom”). Here are a few notable ones:

1. Create a focal accent by painting the bed-frame wall an accent color.

2. Declutter. Store items in bins or baskets under the bed.

3. Mix and match linens and layer bed with pillows.

Invest in the master bedroom, for yourself and for the potential buyer, if your house is on the market for sale.

Blo

dreamstimefree_631787

Truant’s main point is that if we blog, the post should be readable for a general audience. Gaining followers, however, requires one more step. Truant suggests the “Easter egg,” the inside idea or comment that only 1% of general readers will get and love.

“If you place your Easter eggs well, you’ll get a cloud of people who read your stuff the way they would read anything else they were interested in. But at the center of that cloud will be your core fans. Your insiders. Your ‘club of you.’”

And to start creating that club of core fans, we need to be true to ourselves, our interests, and our own sense of humor. We can be many things to many people, but we can be truly spectacular to the few who share our passions.

Blo

dreamstimefree_631787

Truant’s main point is that if we blog, the post should be readable for a general audience. Gaining followers, however, requires one more step. Truant suggests the “Easter egg,” the inside idea or comment that only 1% of general readers will get and love.

“If you place your Easter eggs well, you’ll get a cloud of people who read your stuff the way they would read anything else they were interested in. But at the center of that cloud will be your core fans. Your insiders. Your ‘club of you.’”

And to start creating that club of core fans, we need to be true to ourselves, our interests, and our own sense of humor. We can be many things to many people, but we can be truly spectacular to the few who share our passions.

smiles faces group

In his TED talk, “Measuring what makes life worthwhile,” Conley argues that many of us are walking or running the modern treadmill, pursuing happiness with our sweat, blood, and tears. Getting what we want is the constant chase.

Mainstream economists measure success in tangible units of production and consumption. Conley says that it’s time to count the intangibles. Community and business leaders need to focus on creating happiness for customers, which is directly converted into tangible success. Today, Joie de Vivre Hospitality operates more than 40 hotels throughout California, including the famous Phoenix Hotel.

Fence

CNNMoney.com (”Forget India, outsource to Arkansas”) reports  that skilled, lower-cost labor can be had in rural areas of the U.S. “Ruralsourcing” or “onshoring” is a viable strategy that more companies are choosing as a means to stretch their budgets.

CrossUSA, based in Burnsville, Minnesota, is using an unlikely recruiting strategy. They hire older IT workers who want to further build their nest egg prior to upcoming retirement. The company’s 100 employees come from small nearby towns; for CrossUSA, that means low turnover since most of the employees have little desire to head out of their ruralscapes.

In these economic times, ruralsourcing is a great option for companies looking to expand on a budget and for the under-employed.