Life & Family

Great Advice From My Horoscope App

The Daily Horoscope App
The Daily Horoscope App – available at the App Store on smartphones

 

Lately I’ve been caught up worrying that my blog posts are not getting a lot of “Likes” (on Facebook) or comments. I know you are reading because so many of you have the nicest things to say when I see you in person. Thank you for that!

I find myself asking; what are my posts are missing? What could I be doing or writing that would be more engaging?

When I wrote exclusively for the magazine, feedback wasn’t really expected and that made things easy. Now, in this sea of social media, I see all kinds of posts getting hundreds of “Likes” and comments. I wonder how I can reach readers here in the same way.

Advice from Daily Horoscope

Before this concern became all-consuming, I was reminded that this blog is only three months old and things take time. But I am so impatient! Thank you to my family and friends who talk me off the ledge. I also read somewhere that “Likes” and comments shouldn’t really matter as long as you are putting out quality content. OK, but still I obsessed.

Until this past Tuesday when I opened up my handy horoscope app and read this:

 

Leo

 

OMG – was the universe speaking directly to me? I was actually stunned when I read it and, as I often do with my horoscope, I took it to heart.

I discovered The Daily Horoscope app in the App Store a couple of years ago and have found it to be consistently positive and spot on 90 percent of the time.

Daily Horoscope App Icon
DH Icon

 

I turned Julia onto it and now she follows it too. Whenever she needs a little reassurance or encouragement, this app seems to have just the right message for her. It’s crazy really and, like mine, her horoscope is often eerily in tune with some specific things going on in her life. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve said to each other, “Did you see my horoscope today? It’s weird, just plain weird.”

So today I will listen to my horoscope and if the “Likes” and comments don’t come flooding in, I’m OK with it. But hey, don’t let that stop you. If you are so inclined- I’d love to hear from you.

Have you tried the Daily Horoscope App? Do you find it eerily accurate or missing the mark?

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Television & Technology

New to Instagram – Sharing, Learning and Getting Inspired

Instagram photo - Mother Day flowers in shades of pink
Pretty in Pink – a view from above.

 

The fact that I have an active Instagram account is nearly as shocking to me as it is to my daughters.

For the most part, I don’t know what I’m doing when it comes to technology today.  There was a time, oh so long ago, when I might’ve said that my technical skills verged on savvy. Yes, two kids and 15 years later, I’m in the elite group of folks, 40 and over, who don’t have a clue about social media.

When it was suggested I start “Instagramming” for 3 Olives & a Twist, I burst out laughing at the thought. I can barely manage Facebook and this blog. How in the world could I possibly handle Instagram? What would I post? My mind immediately went to selfies – NO, just NO!

Being new to Instagram, I quickly learned that this photo-sharing application is actually much more than selfies and the seemingly popular “look down at your shoes” shot. Here’s one…

white shoes stepping on wood
There are a lot of these on Instagram – I don’t get it.

 

In fact, it is full of amazing imagery, as long as you know what to look for.

The Beauty of Instagram

I’m a very visual person and I love pictures – when I began searching hashtags of interest, I stumbled upon a veritable feast for my eyes. Stunning photos of food, interior design, architecture, landscape, botanicals, travel and, of course, cute pups have all stopped me long enough to warrant a [icon name=”heart” class=”” unprefixed_class=””].

Many photos are posted by professional photographers. I marvel at their talent and eye for interesting subjects and have begun to draw inspiration from what I see. As much as I struggle to take a decent picture, Instagram has actually helped me with angle ideas, filters and cropping options.

The simplicity of Instagram is also appealing. There aren’t a lot of buttons to tap and interaction is as little or as much as you want it to be. I’ve found myself mentally transported to beautiful countries through posts from all over the world. It has opened my eyes in many ways and when something questionable pops ups, I shut those eyes tight and quickly move on.

At the end of the day, I’m having fun with Instagram. It has become a tool in fueling my creative energy.

Instagram and Me

On behalf of the blog, I try to post things to the 3 Olives & a Twist Instagram that make me feel good. I love pictures of dogs, shoes, jewelry and just yesterday, I posted a pic of two lovely frozen margaritas in honor of Cinco de Mayo.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!!! #picoftheday #lifestyleblogger #cincodemayo #celebrate #cheers

A photo posted by 3 Olives & a Twist (@3olivesandatwist) on


Though I’m still new to Instagram, with each picture I take and post, I’m learning. Learning to take a better photo, learning how to use social media in a way that is not scary to me and learning that, indeed, an old dog can learn new tricks.

Today my #picoftheday is something that always makes me happy… flowers. I hope you enjoy the image and thank you to my wonderful family for sending me my Mother’s Day bouquet early.

Follow 3OlivesandaTwist on Instagram for more photos. If you love pictures like I love pictures, you too may find Instagram to be a fun place to share.

Do you Instagram?

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Television & Technology

Tech-Tip Tuesday: Make your Own Emoji with Bitmoji

bitmoji - make your own emoji
That glass of wine should be a martini!

Do you Bitmoji? I came across this fun little app when my friend, Rose, texted me a cartoon image of herself that looked so much like her, I couldn’t help but giggle when I saw it. I immediately texted her back to ask, “how did you do that?  “It’s a Bitmoji,” she said.

Well, that meant nothing to me, so I went straight to my in-house tech team for clarification. On duty that day was my oldest, Julia. She let me know that Bitmoji is an app you can download to your phone. It allows you to make your own emoji, a.k.a. create an avatar likeness of yourself to go along with the cute messages you see in the featured collage. Thank you to my youngest, Ally, for helping me put that together. I don’t know what I’d do without my girls, xoxo.

Bitmoji lets you pick your eye-color, skin tone, hairstyle, fashion sense and more to make your own emoji.

Julia kindly created Bit-Beth for me and before I knew it, my friends and I were sending these little bit-o-grams to each other whenever we wanted to communicate.  Julia let me know she thought bitmojis were a little goofy and more for the “mom” crowd, but I didn’t care.  I think they are clever and a perfect mood booster when simple texting and Emojis just aren’t enough.

Want to see how cute you are? Then go ahead and download Bitmoji to make your own emoji. Your friends will love the new you.

Bitmoji.com

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Television & Technology

Techno-Dummy: Working Through Technology Issues

 Technology issues drive me and this lady mad!

Is this you? Well, it certainly could be me. The more time I spend on my computer or phone, the more I realize I have no idea what I’m doing. Technology issues make me want to tear my hair out. In fact, they kind of scare me. Not in a security or privacy kind of way, but in the way that I fear I’m so clueless about what I’m doing, I’m either going to blow up my entire system or I’m going to send out posts or messages that make absolutely no sense.

Whether I’m working on an outrageously slow Google doc or my phone is making mysterious, unintended phone calls, I’m never quite sure if my technology issues are because of me or just technology gone wild.

If you’ve signed up to receive email notifications for my blog, you know I’ve been having trouble working through the kinks of my email plugin. Let me first say thank you for signing up and, most importantly, for your patience.

I slightly panicked over the issues until I realized that I’m far from alone when it comes to experiencing technology issues. This weekend, Saturday Night Live spoofed an extremely awkward moment from the 2016 Grammy’s when rapper, Bow Wow, attempted and failed to kick off the show with about a minute and a half to go. A minute never felt so long! His feeble efforts to fill time were so uncomfortable, yet hilarious, and SNL made it even funnier picking on the Kid’s Choice Awards. In that moment I realized problems are going to happen no matter who you are or what you’re doing. Your best bet is to relax (good advice from my sister), handle them with grace and laughter and everything is sure to work out. Sometimes it’s easier said than done, but since I’m new to the blogosphere, I must practice what I preach.

My fingers are crossed that email notifications for this post will go out perfectly. If they don’t, let me know. Meanwhile, I’ll take a deep breath and keep smiling.

Have a laugh at both videos here:
SNL Kids Choice Award Skit
Bow Wow’s Grammy Fail

 

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