On Kirtsy This Week

Here are some of my favorite kirtsy links from the last little while. (Kirtsy is a site where anyone can share cool links — I'm one of the co-founders).

-Have you heard of ChatRoulette? (Videochatting with total strangers.) I haven't tried it, but I'm fascinated by the idea.

-It's Black History Month — here are 8 African American Women who changed the world.

-The Oscar's are coming! Download your FREE Oscar Party Bingo cards here.

-A visual lesson in how letterpress works on Design*Sponge.

-The world's most dangerous places to live, according to Mother Nature.

-A fan letter to Roger Ebert. (Did you hear? He lost his lower jaw to cancer.)

-Would you rent a boyfriend for a week to appease your parents?

-Did you see the BlogAid Cookbook? With contributions from 27 top food bloggers. Gorgeous. And all proceeds go to a great cause.

-Lots of pretty pics of this charming boutique hotel in the South of France.

-Six Word Memoirs. (I don't think I'll ever tire of this idea.)

-Were you bothered by the Dodge Charger Superbowl Ad? Here's one reaction.

-Need a photography session for free? Here you go. You're welcome.

-You will love this a day-in-a-life of Rubyellen. (It's where I found the fantastic image at top.)



One more. Totally un-kirtsy-related. Remember the family ski trip to Copper Mountain we took earlier this month? Well here's some good news: Copper Mountain is giving away a family four-pack of tickets. For free. To enter go here. You totally want to win this. I swear. You have until this Saturday, February 27th to enter.

Say Hello to the Kirtsy Book

It's a big week, friends. So big that all I want to do is blog about the bigness. And so big that I am finding it hard to squeeze in blogging time. Which is just how it goes, isn't it? In this post I'll just cover 2 of the big things.

1) Ben Blair is out of town.
Sunday through Sunday. And the bed's too big without him.

2) The Kirtsy Book is here.
It's really here. Laura Mayes (you may know her as Girl Con Queso) conceived of the idea one billion years ago. And started working on it day and night. At some point I stopped asking her about it because I thought she might cry. Then suddenly: the book exists.



And my oh my. In true Kirtsy fashion, it is gorgeous. Full of wonderfulness from cover to cover. Featuring over 100 of your favorite bloggers and writers. I can't believe I get to be included in such an illustrious bunch.

You will love this book. I promise. You can pick up your own copy of Kirtsy Takes a Bow here. Or (bonus!) get a signed copy by ordering directly from Bright Sky Press.

Need more convincing? Watch this trailer for the book:



The trailer was made by brilliant author Katherine Center. She wrote the introduction essay for the book — and it's her voice reading her essay in the video. That's just the kind of cool the Kirtsy Book inspires.

Want to celebrate? There are 8 (and counting) Kirtsy Book parties happening around the country. The first one happens in Houston tonight. And then the celebration starts traveling around the country. Yay! It's even coming to Denver!! You can find all the info here.

Hands On Small Business

We interrupt these lovely pregnancy-related posts to make a special announcement: Kirtsy and Microsoft Office Live have teamed up to host 100 Hands On Small Business sessions.

Seriously. One hundred sessions! And guess how much each session costs to attend? Zero dollars and thirty-free cents. That's right. All 100 sessions are FREE to attendees.

The 100 individual events will happen between October 5 and November 20, in 20 cities across the United States and Canada. You can find the list of cities here. Each session will be hosted and led by Kirtsy editors, Kirtsy founders and Kirtsy friends — who just want to get together to show all you entrepreneurs and small business owners out there some new (and maybe not so new) cool things that will help make running and promoting your company easier, smarter and definitely more interesting.

So if we’re coming to a city near you, please plan to join in on the fun! And bring your laptop if you have one. But don't bring any money. Because these sessions are free (did I mention they are free?).

You can find out all the info you need to know at the Hands On Small Business site. You can find out all about the awesome instructors. The excellent variety of dates.

So get ready, and get set to go save your spot on your favorite scheduled date.

We can’t wait to see you there!

Curtis Hotel

As I mentioned earlier, kirtsy is holding a Hands On Social Media session at The Curtis Hotel this Saturday. The Curtis is in Downtown Denver and ever since I linked over there to check it out, I've become kind of obsessed. It looks like it might be the coolest place ever. (Is it me or did I just see a vintage robot on their website?)

I'm kind of psyched to explore the hotel this weekend — the meeting room looks super hip and I heard the restaurant is really good. I'm thinking Ben Blair and I need to schedule a kid-less overnighter to go check out the rooms. (Best idea ever.)