Liz Tunheim...speaks, hears, sees...

Pinterest is getting a lot of attention lately, so naturally I want to comment on my love for the platform.  I love that it is easy to share and consume images; I love even more that it pulls in photos from the site you want to share making it easy to save and consume great content.

I was first introduced to Pinterest last summer. Newly engaged, a colleague of mine invited me to Pinterest as she had been using it to pin the things she wanted to share with her wedding planner.  

I honestly did not get into it immediately, but in the past few months the site has received a lot of my attention. Between wedding planning and seeking fun holiday decor and food ideas, I found better content through my Pinterest friends (pulled in from Facebook) than in any Google searches I performed.

Pinterest has created a huge opportunity for content creators—if you want to share your content with the Pinterest community, you should:

1. Include interesting visuals to go along with your shareable content
2. Write a short description that includes what the image links back to as encouragement to visit your website
3. Upload and tag to correlating categories to help it spread  

The example here is a good one—it has a photo that pulled me in (though not exactly beautiful…) and links to a post offering “35 Pest, Disease and Weed Remedies,” or exactly I would want if my grapefruit looked like this. 

If this content was useful to me, I could pin this and later come back to it when I need this content.  Because of the visual image, it will not be hard to find this pin in my pinboard.

If you have not joined the Pinterest community yet, I highly suggest you give it a try.  I know the site has use for everyone because it is so easy.  I imagine it will just take enough people sharing likeminded content to drive users outside the heavy female population that Pinterest enjoys now.

Are you on Pinterest? What is your favorite use for Pinterest?

2011 is the year that I want to really focus on me and doing the things that make me happy.  Not that I have ever chosen differently, but I tend to put others before myself and while I cannot change that about me, I do want to add some things in my daily life to better me. Last year I downsized the number of volunteer opportunities that I dedicated myself to — this year, it is the small things that will make the big difference for me.  The people closest to me are the most important priorities to me in the world, and I am hoping that these additions/priorities for me will only make them happier, too, because I will be focused on making me happy.

Goal 1:  Read the Bible
I read parts of the Bible often, and I refer to them often.  Two years ago, I bought a One Year Bible with the goal of reading the whole thing to provide full context to the stories that I know so well.  I have read some, but I have not stayed dedicated. 2011 will be the year that I read the entire thing.  I am on day 5…so I will continue to check in on my progress as I go. 

Goal 2: Feel healthy

I love doing yoga.  Yoga is the one exercise I do that I do not think about how much I want it to be over the entire time.  Sadly, since moving to St. Paul last year, I had not even tried to find a replacement studio to my beloved former yoga studio in St. Louis Park (The Yoga Center - check it out if you live in the area because it rules).   Two weeks ago, I joined CorePower Yoga in my neighborhood, and I hope to make it there twice a week - once for Yoga Sculpt, the other for Vinyasa Flow (or CP2 as its called at CP).  Love the studio though.  Great classes, and I have already sweat a ton!

Overall I want to be healthier in general, so I have joined SparkPeople.com and am trying to keep myself to a “schedule.”  It has always been hard for me to do, since work and all the other things I like to do keep me pretty busy; that said, it is so important to me, so in 2011 I make it a habit.  SparkPeople.com works for me so far because I get points for everything I do on there - goofy, but I get the same thrill from that as I do from Shopkick, Foursquare, and other apps that give me points when I participate.  And it is good for me!  I will continue to check in on this progress, too.  And if you are on SparkPeople.com, seek me out — my username is tzzs119 and I could use all the encouragement I can get!

Goal 3: Work on my abilities
I started a Masters program at Augsburg College this past fall.  I’m so excited to start my second class on Saturday - the course is called Self-ID: Values & Personal Growth.  I cannot wait!  I have heard its one of the best courses in the program, especially for me right now when the next part of my goal is to…

continue learning new things!  In addition to my work life and my school life, I try to keep myself busy with things that make me happy and help me grow.  In addition to obviously spending time with my family and friends (which keeps me grounded), I want to keep growing by pushing myself.  I’m kicking off the year with an Acting for Non-actors class.  I am SO nervous about it, but so excited about the opportunity to put myself out there and give it a try.   Overall I just want to feel strong in my abilities, and by pushing myself, I hope to keep feeling stronger and grow more confident both personally and professionally. 

As I have posted previously, I have a long reading list that I want to get through someday.  Right now I’m reading Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. I hope to check off at least four of the books off that list this year.

Goal 4: Learn the guitar (finally)
I have had a beautiful guitar for over ten years and never perfected the art.  2011 is my year.

Do you have a goal for 2011?   Please share—I would love to hear about it.

Couple great links to customer data about holiday gifts —

Fast Company: http://www.fastcompany.com/1701380/the-most-wanted-2010-holiday-gadgets?partner=homepage_newsletter

In this one, I am SURPRISED by the results, which have the iPad as number 2 on the list and Mobile Phones aren’t even mentioned?  Hello…how many Americans still need a smart phone?!   That should top those lists.  What I did find really interesting though is the data comparing years past to this year. I have a few of those items high on MY list for this holiday!

A commenter on Fast Company posted a link to BlackFriday.com with predictions for the holidays http://blackfriday.com/predictions.  This has a bigger pulse on all holiday gifts, rather than just CE, but not surprisingly, CE products top the charts. 

What are your hot items for the 2010 holiday season? 

I’ve been a writer and a talker my whole life.  I love social media and find myself having a hard time putting my iPhone down and shutting off the apps the majority of the time (much to the dismay of everyone around me/with me!).  Yet when I tried blogging previously I did a lousy job and usually found myself having a hard time finding things to write about.  I worried…”Will people think this is interesting?” or “How do I find people to read what I am writing?”  Obviously I need to find something to write about BEFORE people will read my blog, but as a writer it is funny that I worry so much about the audience, rather than getting what is in my head out.  So I am back to try again…this time with less focus on the audience and more on what I find interesting.