Dawn | Dawn Cullo's Blog

P E N G U I N S, Penguins Oh Yes !

September 18, 2011 By Dawn Cullo Leave a Comment

Our class mascot was a stupid Penguin and P E N G U I N S, Penguins Oh Yes! was our class cheer, lame.

Last night I had the pleasure of catching up with about 40 of my fellow classmates from St. Francis High School class of ’91. The reunion was held at The Mix in downtown Sacramento. By 9pm I was so ready to leave, I couldn’t hear anyone talking and found my self having to shout just to have a conversation. HAHAHA Maybe our 25th can be held at a less crazy venue.

It was great to catch up with everyone, even though most of us are on Facebook there are still aspects of each others lives that we don’t know about. Everyone looks the same, isn’t that crazy? I thought that no one would even know who I was but they still remembered me. It was tough for me to describe my business because they are not in the ‘virtual world’ like I am so I need to work on my spiel.

Here is a picture of me and Kathy, known her since she was the ‘new kid’ in 7th grade. She is pregnant with baby Jackson, due in 7 weeks.

Filed Under: Blog, Dawn's Blog Tagged With: Dawn

Lily Graduates from Kindergarten

June 7, 2011 By Dawn Cullo Leave a Comment

Wow, what an awesome day. Today Lily graduated from Kindergarten and while at first it seems like this is the ‘end’ of something it is really the beginning it is the is the beginning of her school years. Kindergarten was really just a ‘practice’ for the next 8 years at St. Mary School. It was practice not only for Lily but for our entire family. The Kindergarten years are for Lily to make new friends and get used to the school environment and the school routines. As a family we had the opportunity to use this year as practice as well with learning about fundraising activities, volunteer opportunities, where to park, and most importantly what items are hot sellers at the school silent auction and even more important that that is learning when to leave the house so we are not late.

I did not cry when I dropped her off for her 1st day of school last August, but today I held back those tears. The class entered the gymnasium to their “Good Morning” song, which I have heard just about everyday at drop off and I realized that I wouldn’t be hearing that song again because she was leaving behind the fun world of singing songs, coloring and dancing around. Soon we will be back on campus for Summer Camp but shortly after that she will be in 1st grade where they get down to business with the school work and before we know it we will be at her 8th grad graduation.

I think that this year has taught our family to breath and enjoy the moments because it all goes by so quickly.

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Filed Under: Blog, Dawn's Blog Tagged With: Abigial, Dawn, Lily, Louis, School

Not Feeling Guilty About Day Care This Time

May 24, 2011 By Dawn Cullo Leave a Comment

When I was pregnant with Lily I refused to put her in day care and go back to work. I liked a few of the people that I worked with and missed them when I left, but my job was going nowhere and I was bored doing the same thing all the time. There was a lot of office gossip, office games and I was getting to old for that kind of environment. As soon as I could start my maternity leave I was gone, I didn’t even wait for Lily’s due date to be near, I left 6 weeks before she was due. The thought of having to put Lily in day care every day and go back to the office and be miserable was not something I wanted to do, it was going to cause me extreme stress and mommy guilt. Why suffer through the day being unhappy in my job while Lily was unhappy in day care? I felt so guilty about putting her in day care, the thought of it made me sick to my stomach. So I searched high and low for a way that I could stay at home with Lily and still work. After I weeded out all the crazy jobs such as medical biller and phone sex operator I stumbled upon the world of Virtual Assistance.

When Lily was around 3 months old I saw a Patricia Beckman on Good Day Sacramento doing a story about being a Virtual Assistant and I knew I had to connect with her, she was my ticket to staying out of the office. I contacted her right away and within a few weeks starting working with her doing various administrative tasks for her and for clients. I worked with her for a few years and then decided to create my own Virtual Assisting firm and hire my own team of VA’s. Today we are going strong and have a team of 8 people and we focus on Internet Marketing for Women business owners who want to make their business shine on the Internet. We help them through Internet Marketing strategies, Social Media promotions and eCommerce solutions. You can find out more about my company at http://SunriseVirtualServices.com

I’d been running my company for about a year and growing it really well and then BAM! I got pregnant again. I tried to keep things going and it was good for a while because babies lay in their cribs and sit in exersaucers while you work. But now Abigail is 16 months old and she needs other little people to interact with and an environment where she can thrive, my office is no place for her to thrive in, LOL. I know that she watches too much TV and I felt that there has to be a better solution.

Lily will be starting a summer camp program in June so I had hoped that this would give me more time to work on my business but I would still have Abigail at home and need to tend to her needs.

Louis and I had talked about putting Abigail in day care environment but not until she was about 3 years old. Recently things in my company were really stressing me out because the company was growing so much I couldn’t do it all, I did have things delegated out to my team but there just wasn’t enough time for me to work on much and I felt out of the loop and disconnected from my company. There are big things that I can do with my company and I’ve had little time to plan and execute them and that has really stressed me out because I feel like I am missing out on some golden opportunities. I even had higher than usual blood pressure readings at a recent dr’s visit so I knew that something had to change.

At first the thought of putting Abigail in daycare made me feel guilty. Until we visited Goddard (where she will be going and where Lily went for 2 1/2 years) and she loved it! She ran up and down the halls, she played in the classroom, she interacted with the teachers and I had to drag her out of there. I am sure there will be some crying involved when we do those initial dropoffs but she is easily redirected so I don’t feel like there is anything to worry about.

Having her in daycare 5 days a week at even just a half time schedule will give me 20 hours per week to work and have better communication with my team, work on growing my business through in person networking, marketing and teleclasses.

So this time when I ‘go back to work’ there will be no Mommy guilt because I will be going to an office where there is no office gossip, no office politics and nothing but the ability to grow my business.

Filed Under: Blog, Dawn's Blog Tagged With: Abigail, Dawn, Daycare, Goddard, Mommy Guilt

Dawnukkah

March 23, 2011 By Dawn Cullo 6 Comments

I am not sure exactly when I knew or how I was told but from a very young age around 8 or so, I’ve known that I am adopted. I guess when you tell kids things they just accept it and don’t over analyze things. I wasn’t angry about it, I just figured that my ‘real’ mom (as I called her in my mind when I was young) wasn’t able to raise a baby so she gave me to my mom. But as I got older I learned what being adopted was and I learned a little bit more about my birth parents. The only thing that my mom gave me about my birth parents is a pathetic looking piece of paper with two columns on it. The 1st column says “mother” and the 2nd one says “father”. On the paper are the typed words that make up who I am, things like my birth parents eye color, age, ethnic backgrounds and their hobbies, she was 16 and he was 20. If you are curious, she was good in school and had plans for college and he was a cook. Just so you know, I don’t like to cook.

There is this crazy fantasy that I have every year as my birthday approaches. What I fantasize about is finding a birthday card in the mail with no return address on it, a mystery card. Inside is a vintage 70′s style birthday card with a kitty cat and some flowers on it. The simple words written inside are “Thinking of you, Love Mom”. Well, I never get that card in the mail, she never has sent it and I am pretty sure at this point she never will. It has been years since I turned 18 when she could legally come and find me but nothing has happened, no knocks on my door. Yes, I am a bit disappointed. I’ve registered with a lot of search registries too, but nothing.

What I do think about every year on my birthday, without fail is what my birth mother was going through when I was born. She was 16 at the time and I think about how scared she must have been, did she have any family with her during labor, did they even care? Did anyone care when I was born, there certainly wasn’t a Daddy waiting to hold me or a Mother waiting to snuggle with me. I even thought of my birth mother and her situation after my daughters were born. I knew how horrible labor is (yes it is horrible and it sucks and it is painful) and I though of her and felt bad for her.

When I gave birth to Lily she had to be taken to the NICU and I remember the nurse holding her and walking out of the room with her and I just lost it and started crying, I was thinking of my birth mother and what she must have seen as they took me away. I also spent the 1st night in the hospital alone, Lily was in the NICU and Louis was exhausted so he went home for sleep. I was so lonely and I just wanted my baby, I cried until I fell asleep. It must have been what it was like for her, she gave birth and was alone, no family, no baby. Lily did come out of the NICU the following afternoon so there is a happy ending there.

This is probably why I created Dawnukkah. It is a silly celebration week of my birthday that I joke around with my family about. And this is why I make such a big deal about my birthday, it is to hide my real feelings and my thoughts about my birthday. Up until now, only Louis knew of these feelings that I have. He knows it when I get the mail around my birthday what I am thinking about. Don’t get me wrong, I love the fact that I am alive and that my mother had the strength to give me up for adoption but it still makes me sad to think about her situation. I am my own Lifetime Movie.

The big question is will I find her? I’ve sort of tried, I have a name, I have an address and it might be correct or not but for some reason I just can’t do it. I know I can just hire someone to find her but I chicken out. I am not sure why I chicken out because I do not like mysteries or cliff hangers yet I am the biggest mystery to myself. Weird.

Writing this blog post has helped me to release these feelings and not having to keep them bottled up inside feels pretty good. Sure, I cried pretty much the whole time I wrote this post but it felt good to get it out. I think what prompted me to write this blog post is that last week I was watching Glee and the song “Blackbird” by the Beatles was sung by Chris Colfer. I really liked the song, it spoke to me about being free. I did some research about the song and found out that Paul McCartney wrote the song about the civil rights struggle after reading about race riots in the US. You can hear the song on this site http://www.jango.com/stations/267243409/tunein?song_id=288128

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise.

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to be free.

Blackbird fly Blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night.

Blackbird fly Blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night.

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
You were only waiting for this moment to
arise.

So let’s raise a glass to another year passing and celebrate life, Dawnukkah !

Filed Under: Blog, Dawn's Blog Tagged With: Dawn

My Year In Review

December 30, 2010 By Dawn Cullo Leave a Comment

Well, seriously it is almost the end of 2010 and it has been filled with a lot of ups and a lot of downs. Maybe not ‘downs’ in the sense of tragedy, more like a few not so fun days mixed in there. I think the theme of the year was ‘exhaustion’.

Last January we kicked off the new year by adding Abigail to our family. I spent the first part of January trying to make her come out, but the little bugger stayed in there until the 18th and wanted to come out at 3:45 am during one of the worst and first storm of the year. My family almost didn’t come to see me in the hospital because the storm was so bad, whatever! I just pushed a kid out of my &$@# you better get your booty down here to see her! LOL. I kid, no really I do. If you want to read Abigail’s birth story and my rant about pain medication during labor you can go here – http://dawncullo.com/from-cheerio-to-soda-can-with-no-epidural-but-not-by-choice/

The first few months of the year were a complete blur. I was trying to do it all, run my business, deal with a newborn and help Lily with her transition of being a big sister. I felt bad for Lily, she really didn’t know what to expect. We tried to prepare her as best we could about what to expect with a new baby in the house but I know at times she felt out of place and that makes my heart hurt a little bit for her. We included her as much as we could in the care for Abigail such as her helping us get a diaper or choosing Abigail’s outfits for the day. But the funny thing is that most times she just wanted to go play.

Once Abigail finally reached about 3 months things started to get better. The weather was better and we could go for walks in her stroller and go play at the park with Lily. As the months rolled on we started to do new things with Abigail such as solid foods and she started to scoot and crawl and her Baptism at St. Ignatius. Soon it was time for Lily to say goodbye to her Preschool life and venture on to the world of Summer Camp.

The summer time opened up a whole new world for all of us and it came in the form of a Taxi. I got a glimpse into what Kindergarten would hold for me, the Taxi. You can read more about this experience here - http://dawncullo.com/taxi/

During the summer I also made a business mistake and disappointed a few people. They know who they are so I don’t really care to mention specifics in my blog but I still feel terrible about what happened but I needed to do what was best for my family and I made a tough decision. At the end of the summer I made a huge leap in my business and opened up a multi-VA firm. At the time I did this I felt like I couldn’t breath, I was so busy with clients that I felt like I was juggling so much responsibility. I am still working on growing the team and figuring it all out but having a great time knowing that I have a solid team of people working with me, I am not alone.

The fall brought us into the world of Kindergarten. At first is was a fun new experience, now 4 months later I am ready for 1st grade to start. I am so ‘over’ Kindergarten at this point. The 1/2 day schedule is killing me and the crazy lack of communication from the school is driving my Type A personality to drink. Yes, I’ve had a Rum and Diet Coke recently and it tasted awesome. =) You can read more about Lily’s 1st day at Kindergarten here – http://dawncullo.com/chapter/ and you can read more about my coming to terms with my past behavior in school here – http://dawncullo.com/as-the-world-turns/

We also finally had the opportunity to upgrade our cell phones and just in time too because both of our Crackberry phones broke as our contract ended. We upgraded to Android phones and just love all the things we can do with our phones.

Finally we have arrived at the end of the year and Abigail has started walking now, she pretty much walks instead of crawls. It is so cute to see a little 2 foot person walking around your house. You can see a video here of her 1st steps – http://dawncullo.com/abigial-walking/

3 new Cullo grandkids (Abigial, Karina & Charlotte) have been added to the mix to bring the total of grandkids to 8, holy cow. We had a everyone over at our house this past week for a few hours and I was pretty sure that they were all going to come rolling down the stairs or crashing through the ceiling. Look at them…aren’t they so cute and innocent looking? Needless to say but Abigail’s 1st birthday party will be off site this year at The Little Gym. =)

My goals for 2011 include starting a Virtual Assistant Coaching program, adding more products to my company such as Ebooks and Audio programs for sale. I also want to loose weight and eat better but everyone says that too and that is boring so maybe I will gain 5 pounds and eat some cake. =)

Happy New Year to you.

By the way, the picture that is the thumbnail to this post is of me and Louis at the infamous NYE “Party Like It’s 1999″ party at George & Claudia’s house.

Filed Under: Blog, Dawn's Blog Tagged With: Abigail, Dawn, Lily, Louis

Working From Home Without Loosing Your Mind

December 23, 2010 By Dawn Cullo Leave a Comment

How do I do it? How do I work from home with a 5 year old and an almost 1 year old without loosing my mind? Well, honestly sometimes I feel like I just want to hide in a closet and sleep but since that isn’t an option I have some tricks that I use to make sure my day runs smooth as possible and the girls still get their Mommy time. I work from home as a Virtual Assistant and I have a team of awesome people who also work with me. So how do I do it? One day the girls will be in school all day and I will have the ‘office’ to myself but until that day arrives I have a few tricks up my sleeve.

Nap Time
Do not, I repeat DO NOT schedule a client call 20 minutes before it is nap time for your baby! I did that once and was so embarrassed. Abigail was so fussy, all she wanted to do was cuddle up with me and take a nap. But since I couldn’t really snuggle with her at that moment all she did was scream and I had to tell the client that I needed to call them back. Instead, schedule your client calls for around when your baby wakes up from their nap. They are more than likely ready to play alone and be content without you for a about 20 minutes or so while you take the call. I have also tried to schedule client calls for when she is napping, however this can backfire on you because when they wake up they are screaming and you need to go into their room and pick them up etc and the client will hear all of that. Also, I’ve learned that Abigail falls asleep in the car everyday after I take Lily to Kindergarten and that is the best time to schedule a phone call. I just use my cell phone headset and drive home and talk to the client.

Movies
I’ve been known to turn on a movie in the afternoon to help get me through that dreaded 4:00 – 5:00 hour. That is the time when they are a little sleepy, hungry and cranky. I get them a snack, get their pillows, blankets and make a little snuggle nest for them to chill out in. Then I turn on a movie and it keeps them quiet for a little while and gives me some time to work on a project.

Movie time!

Purses & Boxes
When working at my desk or even in the playroom I get a few bags or purses and fill them with little toys. For some reason Abigail loves to unpack and repack bags and purses, this will keep her busy for about 15 minutes and sometimes that is long enough for me to do a quick email to a client or finish up a project. When she comes crawling over to me I plop down a purse in front of her and say “wow, what is in the bag” and she in good to go! I also keep a smallish toy box in the office and near my desk upstairs. It is filled will all kinds of random toys. I often rotate the toys with others around the house so the box isn’t full of the same old stuff. This is great for cleaning up the room too, just toss it all in the box and poof the room is clean.

Here is Abigail getting into one of the bags I give her to 'unpack', guess I shouldn't have left it on the table. =)

TV Time
How much TV does your kid watch? If you tell me less than an hour a day then you are lying and you have a maid, cook and nanny! There is no way on God’s green earth that your kids don’t watch more than a few hours of TV a day. I swear, those people and ‘researchers’ that say TV is bad for your kids never met Lily. She is very smart despite her avid TV watching. When she was a baby she watched Baby Einstein DVD’s, she spent her 1st year watching Mickey Mouse, Backyardigians & Dora. With that being said, there is nothing wrong with turning on Nick, Sprout or The Disney Channel while you get some work done around the house. I do however strongly encourage that for every hour your kid watches TV you spend time with them playing a game or reading a book or even dare I say it….go to the park. I even have the girls help me with the laundry. I ask Lily to sort the clothes by color and she thinks it is the best job ever! There certainly has to be a balance so be sure to not have your kid watch TV all day, just a few hours is good.

Important News
Do your kids always bug you when you are on the phone? Somehow Lily seems to have something important to tell me the second I get on the phone. To help curb this behavior I tell her that I am going to get on a call with a client (she knows what that is) and I ask her if she has any important news for me. I give her about 10 minutes to ‘think’ about it and then I get on the call with the client. Generally, she will come to me just few minutes before my call and tell me something crazy about school or one of her friends and I thank her for telling me her important news and then remind her that I am about to get on a call with a client. I would have to say that this one works very well.

Ask for Help!!
My mom lives very close to me (who suggested that?) and she is able to either take Lily to her house for an hour or so and make cookies or play in her backyard. This is very helpful for me when Abigail is napping, because then Lily gets a “mommy break” and I get a lot of work done. Unfortunately, this time doesn’t last all day, usually about an hour but having that hour of silence and uninterrupted time can be like winning the lotto, well almost.

Have a Satellite Office
I utilize Gmail and online project management tools so I can work from any computer, anywhere. I have a few office spaces around the house. The main office is downstairs in our ‘office’ and that is where most of my work stuff is kept such as books, binders and resource materials. Then upstairs, tucked in my bedroom I have a desk for my laptop. This desk is pretty cool because it looks like a dresser, and even has 3 drawers and desk space. I spend a lot of my time upstairs, the play room is upstairs and so it the laundry room and the girls bedrooms. I find that this is a good space to work in because I can work at night when Abigail is sleeping and I don’t need to run upstairs to get her when she wakes, just a short walk down the hall. My other workspace is a small table in the play room. There are times when I need to be in the same room as the girls, normally when they are watching a movie I am in the room with them. I set up my laptop on the little table and all is good.

Invest in an Android phone or iPhone
I used to have a Crackberry phone and thought it was fantastic, but I also got it 2 years ago. My contract was finally up and I upgraded to a Samsung Epic phone which runs on the Android network. Having a phone like this is super because I can work from anywhere. With my Crackberry I was able to get my email and get on the Internet but with an Android phone, it is a a whole new ballgame. The network is so much faster now, especially with 4G and the ability to connect to WiFi networks. I can log into my blog or even clients sites and make changes as needed. I am also able to connect to my project management system, Basecamp, as well as my invoicing tool Freshbooks. Just the other day while out to dinner with the family I was able to draft up an invoice and send it off to the client and was paid within minutes!

Don’t Do It Alone
Lastly, I have to advise any Virtual Assistant to develop a team of people to help you out. It was the best thing that I did to save my sanity. I was really hesitant to do it at first because I thought that I wouldn’t make any money if I was ‘farming’ out all of the work. However, what I found is that the clients that I already have really welcomed the idea of being able to take advantage of more services that I had to offer and ended up purchasing more hours from my company. So not only was I able to continue to work on their project, but I was able to give out work to my team as well.

My newest team member, Abigail. Her skills include jabber talk to monsters on Sesame Street

Those are my basic tips, and I have even more tips which I will be sharing in an upcoming book that will be released in January. The tips include more in depth working at home information and how to keep up on your house work, task list and setting goals. You can check out my website for more information about my team and my company http://sunrisevirtualservices.com/

Filed Under: Blog, Dawn's Blog Tagged With: Abigail, Dawn, Lily

Merry Christmas

December 22, 2010 By Dawn Cullo Leave a Comment

Merry Christmas from Louis, Lily (5), Dawn, Abigail (11 months) and Roxy Cat.

Well, here we are again…another Christmas season and personally since we have been married (for 10 years now) each Christmas has been crazy. I look forward to the days when I can relax and have a stress-free holiday, but not sure that will ever happen. LOL. I think that with the fast paced life that I lead now it doesn’t leave much time for the holiday planning and enjoyment that I would like. When the girls get older and are teenagers my life (hopefully) wont be as crazy and I can take time to slow down and enjoy the holiday season, but when that time comes I am pretty sure I will be longing for the days when they were babies. I suppose the lesson here is to just enjoy the holiday no matter how crazy it may be.

Filed Under: Blog, Dawn's Blog Tagged With: Abigail, Dawn, Lily, Louis

Happy Thanksgiving…ok it’s past so Happy Almost Christmas

November 29, 2010 By Dawn Cullo Leave a Comment

We had a fantastic Thanksgiving, I hope you did as well. We hosted Thanksgiving at our house this year and had Lou’s sister Michel and her family over as well as both sets of our parents and my grandmother. The house was buzzing with people and the smell of turkey in the oven was awesome.

I decided to take the week off, but still checked in on my email to make sure none of my clients had any emergencies. It was really nice to be ‘unplugged’ for a few days. Ok, I do confess that I updated my work website, but that was fun. It sure was hard to get back to work on CyberMonday. Thank goodness I have a system in place to keep track of my clients project using Basecamp. It is an nifty project management online application that helps me to organize all of my clients ‘stuff’ so when I had to jump back into work today it didn’t hurt as much. =)

Here are some pictures from our Thanksgiving.

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Filed Under: Blog, Dawn's Blog Tagged With: Abigail, Dawn, Lily, Louis

The New Disney Store in San Francisco Here I Come!

October 19, 2010 By Dawn Cullo Leave a Comment

Dawn, Kristi, Laura

I worked at The Disney Store in San Francisco from 1995-2000 and had the time of my life, seriously it was a blast. I started as a part-time ‘cast member’ and worked my way up to Lead Cast Member, Stock Captain, and then Assistant Store Manager of the store in Stonestown (South SF). I made a lot of good friends while working there and many I am still friends with today. At the time the store opened it was called a Flagship store and was very unique. It had a Gallery section where every day I could walk in an view beautiful artwork from many Disney artists. We had ‘themed’ rooms such as the Ballroom from Beauty and the Beast (toy section), Alice’s Garden (children’s area) and the Soundstage (Adults). There were so many awesome things about the store, I was sad to hear that it had closed a few years ago.

But now I am so excited, I just heard that they are opening a new Disney store in San Francisco. It is one of the newly redesigned stores so it will be lots of fun for the girls (see the press release below). So we are taking a little trip to San Francisco to see the new Disney Store. We are going to take the girls on BART and visit the store. Lily has always wanted to ride BART (werido) and now here is her chance. LOL. I am also going to try and meet my friend Laura, who I worked with and now lives in Hawaii. She just happens to be in SF for the weekend. I will be taking a ton of pictures too and share them on my blog.

The Old News

400 Post St, San Francisco Store #592 - 1995-2008

On May 1, 2008, approximately 220 Disney Stores in North America became the property of The Walt Disney Company, operating under the Disney Consumer Products arm. The remaining 98 stores in North America closed by the end of summer 2008, turned over to a third-party liquidator. The majority of stores affected by the closures were lower-volume stores; however, a number of newer store locations were shuttered as well. Taking many by surprise, Disney closed its only two stores in the city of San Francisco, the Stonestown Galleria Store and its flagship Union Square Store on Post Street. In Disney Store’s heyday, there were three stores in San Francisco; the one at Pier 39 was one of the first Disney Stores to open when the chain began in 1987.

The Good News

According to Cushman & Wakefield, the Disney Store has leased 12,281 square feet, or the entire building located at 39 Stockton St. in Union Square.

The building, which is owned by 39 Stockton Street LLC, is located near the intersection of Market and Ellis Streets, close to the Apple Store and other retailers including the Ferrari Store, Barneys New York, Diesel, A/X Armani Exchange and Ben Sherman. The building was previously occupied by Benetton.

The New Disney Store will be in the white building.

Cushman & Wakefield brokerage professionals Kazuko Morgan, Courtney Griffin and Jennifer Hatch, represented the landlord in the transaction. Disney was represented by Thomas Power of SRS Real Estate Partners as well as RCS Real Estate Advisors.

“This is prime San Francisco real estate and a global iconic brand like Disney will be a great addition to the retail mix on the block,” said Ms. Morgan, an executive vice president in Cushman & Wakefield’s Retail Services Group.
The Official News

Here is a Press Release about one of the new stores that opened over the summer.

Disney Store Celebrates Grand Opening of New Store Design

Redefines Children’s Retail Industry with Innovative Design Including All New Disney∙Pixar Cars-branded Ridemakerz Experience

To tweet this release, copy and paste http://tinyurl.com/26ujax9 to your twitter handle (#disneystore #montebello)

PASADENA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Today, Disney Store celebrates the launch of its newly-designed store with a grand opening event at The Shops at Montebello complex in Montebello, Calif., just outside of Los Angeles. A crowning achievement of The Walt Disney Company, the high-tech makeover of Disney Store solidifies the retailer’s global leadership in children’s retail and activates the future transformation of its more than 300 locations worldwide. Among the many new attractions of the newly designed store is the first-ever Disney∙Pixar CARS-branded RIDEMAKERZ experience which sets the stage for kids of all ages to build 1:18 scale toy custom cars inside of Disney Store. Disney Store executives, stars from the upcoming Disney Channel Original Movie “Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam” and characters from Disney∙Pixar’s blockbuster film franchise Toy Story joined the festivities and greeted hundreds of Disney fans who waited excitedly for the opportunity to experience the innovative new store.

“As part of Disney, we’re committed to the value of entertainment and exclusive experiences”

The Montebello store is the first of 20 newly designed Disney Store locations that will open across major markets in the United States and Europe in 2010. The 4,800-plus square foot store’s floor-to-ceiling remodel now features multimedia technology, interactive storytelling and Disney Store exclusive merchandise that bring Disney’s most beloved characters to life for families in the local community.

“As part of Disney, we’re committed to the value of entertainment and exclusive experiences,” said Jim Fielding, president of Disney Stores Worldwide. “Disney is setting a new standard for the specialty retail category by integrating robust technology and creative store planning to make each visit customizable and that much more memorable. This is truly an immersive, one-of-a-kind retail experience for children and families that only Disney could deliver.”

Technology is integrated throughout the new store to create magical moments for guests:

The newly designed Disney Store is merchandised by franchise neighborhoods so guests can easily shop by character or theme and is anchored by several “hero fixtures” including:

The Disney∙Pixar CARS-branded RIDEMAKERZ attraction is a one-of-a-kind immersive car building and customizing experience. Launching with three favorite CARS characters — Lightning McQueen, Mater and Sally — fans use tools to assemble their car, and their imagination to customize it with a wide selection of rims, side pipes, hoods scoops, blown engines, spoilers and many more accessories. Disney∙Pixar CARS-branded RIDEMAKERZ toy vehicles will only be available within the new Disney Store design and, later this year, at RIDEMAKERZ retail locations.

The Disney Princess Castle with Magic Mirror – A child-sized princess castle anchors the Disney Princess neighborhood and inspires kids to make believe. As they walk under the iconic castle they encounter a magic mirror and with the wave of a wand, they watch in delight as their favorite Disney Princess character appears.

A customizable shopping experience:

The new store concept also includes the launch of an all new in-store application where guests can customize their shopping experience. Accessed via an interactive kiosk with touch screen, this animated experience gives users the ability to navigate a 3-D view of all Disney Store and DisneyStore.com products and discover the latest Disney Store news via video clips, articles, and social media feeds. This application allows the Disney Store to share its news to customers, who can then share information and in-store events via email, Twitter and Facebook.

The Disney Store Theatre: The newly designed stores will also feature a theater as part of its marquee attractions. Guests can pick from a selection of pre-loaded content that will be updated regularly and can view classic and new Disney entertainment, sneak-peek previews, music videos and more. The theater will also serve for special in-store events such as reading time, scavenger hunts and more.

The “Pixie Dust Trail” and “Magical Trees”: With its glistening blue glitter, the Pixie Dust Trail leads guests through the store and to major interactive elements as they enjoy a Disney-themed skyline and surrounding magical trees which are programmable with changing colors, images, and music set to an array of Disney themes.

The newly-designed Disney Store is scheduled to open in the United States this year at the following locations:

The Shops at Mission Viejo in Mission Viejo, CA, is anchored by luxury retailers and offers an extensive merchandise mix in a sophisticated atmosphere. Disney Store will be located on the second level in a 5100-plus square foot space.

Disney Store on North State Street in Chicago, IL, (Block 37 Complex) will anchor the southeast corner of the center in 4,464 square feet on level one of the mall. The complex features an eclectic mix of shopping, dining and entertainment within a five-story atrium, located in the heart of Chicago’s Loop between Washington and Randolph on State Street.

Freehold Raceway Mall in Freehold, NJ, offers a complete mix of department stores, specialty stores, restaurants and entertainment making the property an ideal location for the new Disney Store.

NorthPark Center in Dallas, TX, offers shoppers the best in every retail category, and the newly-designed Disney Store opening this fall will represent its premier children’s retail store.

Other locations to feature the new Disney Store design opening this year include: Roosevelt Field Mall in Garden City, NY; Santa Monica Place in Santa Monica, CA; International Plaza in Tampa, FL; Fashion Valley in San Diego, CA; Disney Store in Union Square in San Francisco, CA; and a two-story Disney Store in Times Square in November.

With each new store opening in 2010, Disney Store will designate a day for 10 percent of the sales to be donated to the Make-A-Wish Foundation in the United States.

To find a Disney Store, guests can visit www.DisneyStore.com/storelocator or call (866) 902-2798. For more information, please visit www.disneyconsumerproducts.com/press/us. Guests can also sign up for email alerts at www.DisneyStore.com/Updates, become a fan on Facebook www.facebook.com/DisneyStore or follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/DisneyStore to stay connected to your favorite destination.

About Disney Store

The Disney Store retail chain, which debuted in 1987, is owned and operated by Disney in North America, Europe, and Japan. Disney Store is an affiliate of Disney Consumer Products, the business segment that extends the Disney brand to merchandise. Disney Store carries high-quality products, including exclusive product lines that support and promote Disney’s key entertainment initiatives and characters. Disney Store opened its first store in Glendale, California and, in doing so, originated the themed retail business model. There are currently more than 200 Disney Store locations in North America; more than 40 Disney Store locations in Japan; and more than 100 Disney Store locations in the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy and Portugal, in addition to an online store, disneystore.co.uk. Each Disney Store location offers a magical shopping experience that can only be delivered by Disney (NYSE: DIS), one of the world’s largest and most successful entertainment companies.

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=6343815&lang=en

Filed Under: Blog, Dawn's Blog Tagged With: Dawn

The Journey

October 13, 2010 By Dawn Cullo Leave a Comment

I’ve been so torn as to if I should blog about this or not because I kind of wanted to keep it a secret. I found something totally awesome and it has really helped me to loose weight and feel a lot healthier. I am starting a weight loss journey and I wanted to post a before and after picture to show off my results and then tell you about how I did it. But I’ve changed my mind, I am going to tell you about it now. Why am I telling you about it now? Because I am hoping that what I tell you might motivate you to join me on my journey.

I had baby Abigail in January and for a few months I just used the excuse that since I just had a baby it is OK if I am over weight. I just kept telling my self that ‘one day’ I would start working out again but ‘one day’ has turned into 9 months and I am heavier now then when I was pregnant, really I am.

I have a Wii at home and it is good for playing games with the kids or doing Wii fit and doing some Yoga or balance games. I’ve done EA Active and like it, but I can’t get the leg strap to stay on and register my lunges correctly so I easily became frustrated. I needed to find something else.

I wanted to find a work out DVD that I could do at home because finding time to go to the gym was impossible, I needed something that I can do while the kids played around at home. It came down to either a Zumba workout or Hip Hop Abs with Shaun T. I ended up going with Hip Hop Abs because (1) I saw Shaun T. on Goodday Sacramento as a guest one weekend and he was awesome (2) Louis said that he would do the DVD with me and (3) I don’t think we have enough room in our Living Room to do Zumba. =0

Finally, the day came when I got Hip Hop Abs in the mail and guess what? It took me almost 2 weeks to pop in the 1st DVD and do it. Slacker! The routines are easy but my knees, oh my poor knees! I had to modify some of the moves, but overall I really had fun doing the routines, and having Shaun T. lift up his shirt to show me his awesome Abs is a nice treat too. =)

Well, Hip Hop Abs is all good, but that is not what has changed my life so much. Shaun T. and his nice Abs are just the tip of the iceberg here, what lies beneath is this monster of a company called Beach Body. They are a distributor of many fitness DVD’s such as P90X and TurboFire. I had never heard of Beach Body before I bought Hip Hop Abs so I checked it out. It is basically an online community where you can join up and meet other people trying to loose weight. You can even have a ‘coach’ (for free) to help you along the way and keep you motivated. They also have a paid membership option as well but I didn’t sign up for that.

Ok, so here is where things start to come together…..

One day I met a gal at a business event and I really connected with her. She gave me her card and when I went home I immediately went to her web site and guess what? She was a Beach Body ‘coach’. {insert ding for fate} I quickly signed up to be one of her friends on the site and she became my ‘coach’.

A few weeks later she asked me if I wanted to try this protein shake called Shakeology. At first I was like ‘no thanks’ I’ve got my muscle milk and I am good. I did some research on the internet and couldn’t find a bad review or a bad thing posted about Shakeology. So I took a moment and watched a video about Shakeology and then decided to give it a try. Are you listening? This is the part that has changed my body. This is not your ordinary protein shake, I wouldn’t lie to you. When I finally got the sample packets in the mail I tried a few and liked it, and guess what? I wasn’t as hungry in between meals and this is what has helped stick to my diet. It’s not going to make you dramatically loose weight or something crazy like that, it is going to help you through the weight loss journey by giving your body what it needs.

I use Shakeology as my morning meal, and some cottage cheese as a snack later. This is a good solution for me because I am NOT a breakfast person or a morning person, if it was left up to me then we would all eat chocolate pop tarts in the morning. I don’t like to cook, much less cook when I am cranky in the morning. So using a protein shake is the best option for me. I was using muscle milk, but I recently read an article on WebMD about the amount of metals that are in those shakes.

Here is a super quick video about Shakeology.

Shakeology is actually really good, even better than muscle milk, I swear! Next week I will have been using Shakeology for 1 month and I have already lost 8 pounds by just eating better and using Shakeology. I don’t think that I would have been able to stick to my diet if I was hungry all the time, Shakeology has helped me keep the hunger away by giving my body what it needs so that I don’t have any cravings. Also, I haven’t had any coffee for 3 weeks now. We just happened to run out of coffee and decided to go without it for a few days and I never felt like I needed it again. Shakeology was helping me get through those no Coffee mornings. By not drinking coffee we have saved a few bucks a month and made some extra room on our kitchen counter since we put the coffee machine away. =)

So here is my message to you. Are you looking to loose some weight? Thinking about going on a diet or just want to feel healthier? Then join me on my journey as I loose this fricken baby weight forever! I want to get back down to my wedding weight (of almost 10 years ago) and it is going to take some hard work to do it. But now, with Beach Body, Shakeology and you I know that I can do it. I am now a Team Beach Body coach, so if you want to join me you can connect with me (for free) on my coaches site – http://beachbodycoach.com/dawncullo Oh, I forgot to mention that Louis is doing this too and he has already lost 25 pounds ! Crazy right? He is getting ready to start P90X in a few weeks so I am excited about that as well.

Filed Under: Blog, Dawn's Blog Tagged With: Dawn

As The World Turns

July 22, 2010 By Dawn Cullo 2 Comments

Yes it is true, even the cutest kids can be mean. Lily begins Kindergarten in a few weeks and the thoughts have crossed my mind about the type of kid I was in school. As I walk down the halls at St. Mary’s I think back to my time there and how I may have acted towards others. Let me just begin by saying that I have a horrible memory and really there is no way that I am going to remember everything I said or did when I was a kid but I am sure I wasn’t always an angel 100% of the time. I am sure that other kids were mean to me too, but that is just part of growing up.

I was in elementary and junior high during the 80′s and that was a time where I got a lot of my influence from T.V. and soap operas, I swear! I watched Days of Our Lives and General Hospital every day after school with my grandmother and often with my girlfriends and I watch Dynasty and Dallas and on the occasion Knots Landing with my mom. I did see Luke and Laura get married as well, yes I am that old. So of course me being the young impressionable kid thought that life was like soap operas, and I was a bit snooty at times and may have not been nice to some other girls in my class. I don’t remember exactly what I ever said or did but I just know that I wasn’t nice sometimes. Ok, Ok, there is one time that I remember and I get teased about it still. My friend (still to this day) Kathy was the ‘new girl’ in school. I went up to her and said “Do you want to be my friend? I only ask once”. Seriously, that is what I said, OMG I would be so sad if someone said that to Lily.

Our class was such a group of naughty kids though, they even sent in one of the priest to have a ‘talk’ with us about having ‘bad bones’ in our bodies which made us commit sins. He even referred to a soap opera character Savannah on Days of Our Lives.

You see, my parents split when I was in 2nd grade so my mom raised me and life was a little tough, I probably should have been in counseling or something like that but I never was. So not being able to resolve my feelings in a healthy manner resulted in not so nice behavior towards others.

Today I got some ‘payback’ from the universe. A little girl at Lily’s school was mean to her, and it hurt me to hear her tell me about it. Just seeing her little face upset was enough to make me tear up a little bit and think about the mean things I may have said to other kids when I was younger.

I am hoping, no I am praying that Lily has a good experience in school, and that the universe doesn’t punish me through her by having kids be mean to her. =( At her school I have to complete some parent participation hours and I keep thinking of all the people I am going to be working with now, was I mean to them? Do they hold a grudge? Am I going to be placed on the worst jobs ever for parent participation because of it?

I swear though life is tough enough for me already, really it is. My life certainly hasn’t turned out exactly the way that I wanted it to but I am trucking along trying to make the most of it. I did however marry the man of my dreams and he has given me two beautiful daughters. I am exhausted every day and I am a haggard stay at home mom who works at night to make ends meet. My clothes are not fancy, and I don’t drive a fancy car, I weigh more than I would like and I don’t always wear makeup….but I am a nice person and I try my best to take care of my girls first and then myself. I am not the girl I was so many years ago. Maybe my life not turning out the way I wanted is my ‘punishment’ for being mean, who knows but when life hands you lemons then make lemonade and I’ve got lots of lemonade, pink of course.

Filed Under: Blog, Dawn's Blog Tagged With: Dawn

Taxi Please

July 19, 2010 By Dawn Cullo Leave a Comment

Lily is starting Kindergarten at the end of August and we thought it would be a good idea for her to attend Summer School at her new school so that she could get used to the environment. We are almost done with the program and she is doing great, but I am the one who has been in an adjustment period.

I had no idea how hard this would be to drop her off and pick her up from school. At her new school they give every parent a security badge to wear once they have been ‘cleared’ by the office to be on campus. The badge is actually a yellow card that reads “Taxi Driver”. On the first day that I got my badge, I thought it was so cute, now I hate it because yes it reminds me that I am fricken Taxi Driver.

Every day I have had to drive her to school by a specific time, not like in Preschool where we could just come and go as we pleased. No, not when you are in real school, you’ve got to be on time people! Then I have to occupy myself for 2 hours with Abigail and then it is time to pick Lily up again from school. My entire morning and early afternoon is built around being her taxi, it is crazy.

There is an afternoon session that she doesn’t stay for and they ring a bell, holy cow if I am late picking her up I am pretty sure that she would go into category 5 hurricane mode. So every day I get there early and wait….tap tap tap my fingers, check my work email on my phone and get on facebook mobile while Abigail sleeps in the car and I wait for the perfect time to go into the school and pick Lily up…..wait did I mention that I have to actually get out of my car, sign her ‘out’ in the office walk to her classroom and get her? Oh My GOSH, this is madness and tons of fun when I have to wake up Abigail to do it.

I am almost sad in a way that this is what the next year is going to be like, my entire days filled with dropping her off and picking her up from school. Well, at least when she starts Kindergarten she will be in the afternoon class from noon – 3:00 and this means that we don’t need to rush out of the house or deal with morning traffic. I will also be able to do the ‘drive through’ lane to pick her up, I don’t need to get myself or Abigail out of the car to pick her up.

So, we are in her last week of Kindercamp and I am really looking forward to it being over, it was a great experience for both of us but dang it I am so exhausted.

Filed Under: Blog, Dawn's Blog Tagged With: Abigail, Dawn, Lily, School, St. Marys

Got Milk? Tour in Sacramento – July 15th – 17th

July 12, 2010 By Dawn Cullo Leave a Comment

I’m super jazzed to be heading out to the Milk the Moment Got Milk? tour this week and thought you might like to come too! Here is a link to their website with more detailed information http://www.whymilk.com/milk_tour.php.

At the tour you can:

Enter the “Milk the Moment” contest for a chance to win the ultimate family dinner experience with Milk Mustache celebrity chef Tyler Florence
Explore interactive dinner plate that puts milk head-to-head with other dinnertime beverage choices and about the benefits of being a milk drinker and receive tips on how to set a healthy dinner table
The NFL and the National Dairy Council’s (NDC) Fuel Up to Play 60 football toss that focuses on the importance of eating healthy and physical activity
Snap your very own souvenir Milk Mustache photo
“Pass the Gallon” through Facebook to benefit Feeding America to help moms build strong families with milk

This year’s theme is about building strong families. A recent survey found that most Americans are not regularly sitting down for dinner – and when they are, the nutrient value of the meal is often lacking, especially when it comes to what’s in their glass. To encourage moms to set the table with milk to help build a strong family, the national “got milk?” Milk Mustache Mobile Tour is traveling coast-to-coast to celebrate those special moments that families share around the dinner table. More information on whymilk.com.

Events:

Thursday, July 15 – Arden Fair Mall, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. & 2 – 4 p.m.
Friday, July 16 – California State Fair, 10 a.m. – 10 p.m.
Saturday, July 17 – Sacramento Zoo, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. & 2 – 4 p.m.

UPDATE – 07/15/10

We attended the event today held at Arden Fair Mall and it was fun.

Tall Glass of Milk

Lily having her Chocolate Milk

We had our picture taken with milk mustache’s and got free milk! They even had pink milk available and Lily finally got to try some but Lily still prefers chocolate milk. I was able to pick up some great tip sheets for packing a healthy lunch, benefits of chocolate milk and an eating right sheet for kids.

You can still check out the tour as there are still 2 more stops on the tour in Sacramento

Friday, July 16 – California State Fair, 10 a.m. – 10 p.m.
Saturday, July 17 – Sacramento Zoo, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. & 2 – 4 p.m.

If you are not in the Sacramento area you can check out the tour schedule here http://www.whymilk.com/milk_tour.php

Filed Under: Blog, Promotions Tagged With: Dawn

Ford Introduces Rear Inflatable Seat Belts

June 16, 2010 By Dawn Cullo Leave a Comment

Lily Demonstrating The Rear Inflatable Set Belt

I was invited to attend the Ford Safety Tour last week. The event was held at the State Capitol North Steps and Ford was demonstrating one of their new safety items which is the Rear Inflatable Seat Belts. I was really interested in seeing how it works, it sounded pretty cool.

They had a cut-away of a back of car where you could hop in and demo the seat belt. Lily hoped right up there and did it, she called the rear seat belt a banana when it inflated. Normally she would be in a booster seat but I think that the rear inflatable seat belt is pretty nifty. I also tried the demo and when it is not inflated, the seat belt is actually pretty comfy too. For more detailed information about how this new technology works, you can visit the Ford Media Page.

KCRA TV in Sacramento has a great news spot about how it works.

Excerpts from Ford’s Press Release

•    Ford introduces the auto industry’s first-ever production inflatable seat belts, which are designed to provide additional protection for rear-seat occupants, often children and older passengers who can be more vulnerable to head, chest and neck injuries

•    Ford’s inflatable rear seat belts will debut on the next-generation Ford Explorer sport utility vehicle, which goes into production next year; Ford eventually plans to offer inflatable seat belt technology in vehicles globally

•    Ford’s inflatable rear seat belts spread crash forces over five times more area of the body than conventional seat belts; this helps reduce pressure on the chest and helps control head and neck motion for rear seat passengers

•    More than 90 percent of Ford research participants indicated that Ford’s inflatable seat belts are similar to or more comfortable than traditional belts, which could help increase the lower rate of rear belt usage

My 1983 White Mustang Convertible (photo is from 1989)

Ford is also coming out with some other great safety items. One which would have really annoyed me when I was a teenager and I would have been so mad if my Mom use it. The safety item is called MyKey™ and it allows parents to limit the vehicle’s top speed and audio volume to encourage safe driving behavior in teens. It also has other features such as a seat belt reminder and fuel reminder. Here is a link to Ford’s MyKey™ technology page for more detailed information about each feature.

Lily eating her Leatherby's Ice Cream from the Ford Demo

· Ford introduces the auto industry’s first-ever production inflatable seat belts, which are designed to provide additional protection for rear-seat occupants, often children and older passengers who can be more vulnerable to head, chest and neck injuries

· Ford’s inflatable rear seat belts will debut on the next-generation Ford Explorer sport utility vehicle, which goes into production next year; Ford eventually plans to offer inflatable seat belt technology in vehicles globally

· Ford’s inflatable rear seat belts spread crash forces over five times more area of the body than conventional seat belts; this helps reduce pressure on the chest and helps control head and neck motion for rear seat passengers

More than 90 percent of Ford research participants indicated that Ford’s inflatable seat belts are similar to or more comfortable than traditional belts, which could help increase the lower rate of rear belt usage

Filed Under: Blog, Promotions Tagged With: Dawn

It’s Time for Summer Camps

June 14, 2010 By Dawn Cullo Leave a Comment

Lily is headed off to summer camp, not the kind where you live in a cabin for a few weeks. She is only 4 and besides I am pretty sure she is allergic to nature, like me. The summer camp that she is going to is actually a Kindergarten Redines program at her ‘New School’ as we call it. This school is where she will be attending Kindergarten in the fall so we thought it would be a good idea to enroll her in their Summer Camp so that she can become more familiar with her new school. In addition to KinderCamp they also offer KinderSpanish, KinderArt and KinderHipHop. There are many programs available for all grades. Check out the St. Mary’s School Summer Session, it runs in two sessions the first is from June 14 – July 2 and the second is July 6 – July 23.

If you are looking for something else such as horse riding camp or singing camp you can check out the Sacramento Parent Magazine Camp guide for some great ideas. I know that The Little Gym is running a fun summer camp with a new theme each week and you pick how many days your kid wants to go. They can go all week or just a few days, it’s up to you. And as always check with your local park & recreation catalog for fun summer time camps.

When you send your kids off to camp, be sure to label their gear or you might end up with some other kids lunch box or shoes! I buy my labels from Mabel’s Labels and they are awesome. They don’t come off in the dishwasher and they have some pretty snazzy designs. They have a special combo pack called a Camp Pack / School Pack. The pack comes with clothing labels, bag tags and sticky labels. You will get 15 Sticky Labels 8 Shoe Labels, 2 Bag Tags, 40 Iron-Ons or 50 Tag Mates™. If you want to place an order I have a special coupon code for the first person who emails me and asks for it! The coupon code is good for $6 off your order of a Camp Pack / School Pack.

So tell me, what are your kids up to this summer?

Filed Under: Blog, Promotions Tagged With: Dawn, Lily, mabel's labels

3rd Annual M&M’S Most Colorful Fans of NASCAR Contest Launches

June 12, 2010 By Dawn Cullo Leave a Comment

Here’s your opportunity to be recognized as the most colorful, passionate NASCAR fan! Simply upload a photo that shows off your NASCAR fandom for a chance to win a $10,000 prepaid cash card and a trip to Charlotte to be featured in the NASCAR Hall of Fame® for one year! Submit your photo today and tell your friends!

From May 31, 2010 through September 6, 2010, you can enter M&M’S® Most Colorful Fans™ of NASCAR® Contest and showcase your unmatched love for the sport, favorite teams and drivers, by submitting your most colorful racing-themed photos to www.NASCAR.com/mostcolorfulfans. The bonus is that all entries receive 15% off a one-time purchase at the NASCAR.COM Superstore, including free shipping.

I entered the contest last year with the photo here (taken at RPM – Race Place Motorsports in Sacramento) and plan on taking a new photo of Lily this year. We are lucky enough to have a Home Depot by our house and they are having a special event on June 19th from 10:00 – 3:00 where the #20 Home Depot car driven by Joey Logano will be making an appearance, just the car no Joey. If you happen to go to the Home Depot in Rancho Cordova, CA on June 19th they will be having a special Home Depot Kids Workshop as well from 10:00 – 3:00 where you can build the #20 Race Car and they will have Hot Dogs and Juice Boxes for the Kids. That weekend the Sprint Cup race at Infineon Raceway is taking place on Saturday June 20th so if you are in the area then that would be a great place to take a photo for your entry.

More Information About The Contest

“M&M’S® Most Colorful Fans™ of NASCAR® Contest is unique because it’s 100 percent ‘fan generated,’” said Suzanne Beaudoin, vice president, Sponsorships and Sports Marketing, Mars Chocolate North America. “Everything from the weekly winners to the lucky fan who gets to be featured in the new NASCAR Hall of Fame is decided by the boss of NASCAR – the fans!”

Each week of the contest, the votes submitted on NASCAR.COM will be tabulated and the photo with the highest average rating and the minimum number of votes will be selected as that week’s winner and receive a $500 gift card. Fans can also participate in the instant-win game with one hundred (100) fifty dollar ($50.00) gift card instant-win prizes available.

As the elite of NASCAR drivers head into The Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup™ the 14 weekly winners will compete head-to-head during the “Final Round.” At the end of the Final Round, three “Finalists” with the most fan votes will vie for the grand prize: a trip to the NASCAR Hall of Fame Museum, $10,000, and a featured display in the NASCAR Hall of Fame^TM for one year. The 2009 contest winner, Cynthia Peace of Havana, Ill., bested thousands of other colorful NASCAR fans who participated in the contest and became the first fan honored in the NASCAR Hall of Fame^TM earlier in May.

Fans can also follow alongside Left Turn Lindsay and Right Turn Ryan, with at track behind-the-scene photos and videos starring fans at M&M’S® Most Colorful Fans Facebook page, www.facebook.com/colorfulfans and via Twitter at @mmscolorfulfans.

“The fans are a crucial component to what makes NASCAR successful,” said Jim O’Connell, vice president of Corporate Marketing for NASCAR. “M&M’S® ‘Most Colorful Fans™ of NASCAR®’ is a one-of-a-kind promotion which celebrates the creativity of our fans, and rewards them in a fun and memorable way.”

For more information about M&M’S® Most Colorful Fans™ of NASCAR® Contest, visit www.NASCAR.com/mostcolorfulfans.

Filed Under: Nascar, Promotions Tagged With: Dawn, Lily

Want a chance to win a car, just for buying some lip gloss?

May 17, 2010 By Dawn Cullo Leave a Comment

Avon’s Glazewear Lip Gloss comes in 16 fabulous colors and is on sale now for $1.99, normally $6.00, that is a savings of 66%. Right now when you purchase the lip gloss you will receive an entry into the Now Is The Time To Shine Sweepstakes. The grand prize is a 2010 Red Chevy Malibu, five runner-up winners will receive a $1000 check and 250 Beauty Bundles valued at $150 will also be awarded.

If you place your order through my online store I will personally send you an additional entry for each lip gloss that you purchase. But hurry, because I only have 15 extra entry forms and this offer ends on May 19th. Click to visit my store – http://dcullo.avonrepresentative.com/ and be sure to use coupon code FSANY when you check out so that you can get FREE shipping.

Click here to visit my store’s page and find your Avon’s Glazewear Lip Gloss

Filed Under: Promotions Tagged With: AVON, Dawn

I am so tired I might at well be drunk

April 23, 2010 By Dawn Cullo Leave a Comment

I am exhausted, having a new baby in the house has left me exhausted and acting like 1/2 of my brain cells are missing. At least twice I have put my shirt on backwards and worn it outside of the house that way, and today I put my yoga pants on the wrong way and started to walk out of the house but noticed my error. Often, I forget what I am going to say or can’t remember why I came into a room. I often leave the house with the girls and have to come back in to get something, not once but twice. Sometimes I feel like a drunk! Oh how I wish for a nice cold beer or a rum and diet coke, but that pesky breastfeeding stops me from consuming alcohol.

Now it seems like everyone needs something from me too, the cats want to be fed (how rude of them) or Lily needs help getting dressed and Abigail, oh boy she needs help with everything because she is a baby and my husband asks the most annoying questions like “what do you want for dinner”. =) I swear!

When Lily was a baby (4 1/2 years ago) I will admit that I was sleep deprived but at least I still had my wits about me. Now, that I am older my body is handling this lack of sleep a little bit differently. I wake up in the middle of the night at least twice to feed Abigail, and when I finally get back to sleep is it only a few short hours until it is time to get up and start my day, but I feel like my day never ends and thus it never really begins again. I have no idea how people with more than two kids get all their crap done. I am my own worst enemy really because I like to have a clean house and I like to have the laundry done so I am constantly cleaning and doing chores, I know I’m crazy.

One day I will get my sleep back, probably not until the girls are old enough to hang out with their friends more than with me. You know that age, when you are supposed to not like your parents. But when that time comes I will be sad because I will miss holding them and helping them get through the day and I will want these days to return, yes these days when I feel drunk and exhausted.

Filed Under: Blog, Dawn's Blog Tagged With: Beer, Dawn, Sleep

Curves® for Women Toning Trainer

April 18, 2010 By Dawn Cullo Leave a Comment

I was at the Sketchers store a few weeks ago to check out the Shape-ups shoes. They basically are shoes that have a funky sole and they help improve your posture and work your muscles in a whole new way so that it helps to tone up and burn more calories. I was so excited to try these new shoes out, they had so many cute colors too but (insert car screeching break noise here) when I pick up the shoe to see the price I was in shock, $110. Seriously, seriously, really, they need to be that expensive? I could buy a gym membership for that price. So I said “screw it” and walked out of the store.

I sell AVON (yes, like your mom did) and they have a ‘lifestyle’ section which I pretty much have ignored because, well I am not sure why but I’ve never paid attention to it until now. They have some Toning tennis shoes as well, and they are made by Curves® and the price is a bit more manageable at $50, but with my representative discount I got them for less. (woot)

I’ve been wearing them for about a week now and they are a bit different than your normal tennis shoe. At first I felt like Frankenstein walking around or like I had big bricks on my feet. I am a bit of a klutz and not very coordinated so I was impressed with myself that I never fell down while wearing them. I have since gotten used to wearing them and find them to be quite comfortable.

After the first day of wearing them my legs were sore. I guess that means they work! I am pretty sure that I am not going to drop those 40 pounds of I’ve been dying so much to get rid of but wearing these could at least help a little bit. Now I wear them everywhere so that I can multi-task and burn some calories while running some errands.

If you want to check them out you can view them here at my Avon store. The shoes are very popular and they only have a few sizes available right now so if your size isn’t available you can either check back later or send me and email and I will see what I can do.

Tennis Shoes

Link to my Avon store -http://dcullo.avonrepresentative.com/

Click the “Shop Now” tab and search for Item # 36393

Flip Flops

Also, they have a flip – flop version that just went on sale (limited sizes). They are item # 33860 I am totally going to have to pick those up too!

If you want to order the shoes, be sure to use the Free Shipping coupon FSANY at checkout.

http://www.skechers.com/shoes-and-clothing/styles/fitness/women_s_shape_ups/list?cm_sp=WP-_-MGShapeups-_-Shapeups

Filed Under: Blog, Promotions Tagged With: AVON, Dawn

Spit Up Happens

April 15, 2010 By Dawn Cullo 1 Comment

In 2005 if I had a day like I had today I am pretty sure I would be crying in a corner somewhere in my house because I felt like I had failed at being a mommy. Back then, as a first time parent my world was spinning when it came to taking care of a newborn. I thought I knew what I was doing because I read all those parenting books. Lily was a difficult baby, not the kind you want to have as a first time parent. I should have never wasted my time reading any of those parenting books because Lily broke the mold, and still does.

Today, I am older and wiser or as my OBGYN calls it ‘pre-menopausal’. Well, leave it to my Gay OBGYN to call it like he sees it. Anyway, back to today. I just couldn’t get Abby to take a nap today and I pulled out all the mommy tricks but nothing was working. I was pretty frustrated today but I took it all in stride and just kept pressing on with my day. She did fall asleep in the car, but as soon as I got to where I was going she would wake up, lovely. The one thing that I did notice today is that she had a lot more spit up than normal and she wanted to chew on her thumbs more than normal.

This picture was taken by Lily just after breakfast and at the moment she took the picture I felt something warm on my leg….and it was Spit Up. I should have gotten the clue that this is how my day was going to be. Later in the day she even spit up down my back and it landed on the carpet at The Little Gym, awesome. I tried to get her down for a nap the entire afternoon and she would fall asleep but then wake up a few minutes later. That tells me that something is bothering her and I think that she is going through a growth spurt as she will be 3 months old in a few days.

When kids grow it actually hurts in their limbs and it can be quite bothersome, and I learned that from Lily. When she was little there were times when she was a monster, and I am not exaggerating about that at all. She was great birth control for us for several years. Basically, she would be very difficult and then a few days later she would have a new tooth or we would measure her and she would be 1/2 inch taller. When she got old enough to tell us what was bothering her, she told me that her arms and legs hurt and we would figure out that she was growing. So knowing this vital information helped me today and I never ended up crying in a corner somewhere in my house because I know that Abby is just growing and I have to help her through it and give her extra love and some Motrin.

Filed Under: Blog, Dawn's Blog Tagged With: Abigail, Dawn, Lily

The Little Gym

April 11, 2010 By Dawn Cullo Leave a Comment

Lily swinging on the bars at The Little Gym

Lily and I started classes at The Little Gym right before her 2nd Birthday in 2007 and we had a great time because it was a “Mommy & Me” type of deal and we had fun together. Later she wanted to try a cheer-leading class and that didn’t go very well because it was a class she had to do on her own. I honestly don’t recall what happened after that but we didn’t enroll for the next session and we just stopped going for a few years.

Then a few weeks ago Lily found her red award ribbon from The Little Gym and ran over to me and shouted “I want to go back to The Little Gym”. I was in shock, really? We haven’t been there in almost 2 years. I guess those red reward ribbons are great marketing tools on their part. =)

We went back to our local The Little Gym in Folsom, CA and she tried out a class, this time she was old enough to do a class on her own and quite frankly I didn’t think she would go through with it.

Well, I wrong because she did great. Abby and I sat outside the room with all of the other parents and watched. Lily amazed me because she took so many risks that day and succeeded.

Lily swinging on the rings at The Little Gym

I don’t only mean the type of risks such as the balance beam but she wasn’t familiar with any of the kids, teachers or activities and she just jumped right in there and participated. I would have expected her to come out to the waiting room some time during the class and ask to go home, but she didn’t. I could see the joy on her face after she accomplished a task on a piece of gym equipment. She completed the entire class and at the end came running over to me and said “I really liked it and I want to sign up”. The day we went back to The Little Gym was fantastic because I could see her confidence in herself soar.

I recall when we first went to The Little Gym in 2007 and seeing all the Thank You cards on the walls from parents about how their child’s confidence had risen or how their child was doing better in school or at home because of The Little Gym. I clearly remember thinking, “ah poohy, that is silly, gymnastics can’t make that much of a difference” Guess I was wrong and now I am one of those parents thanking The Little Gym for helping my daughter’s confidence too. Not only do the programs at The Little Gym make a difference but it is the owners and the teachers too. The owners of The Little Gym Folsom are fantastic and they really do care about the kids and their families. When we went back to The Little Gym it had been almost 2 years, but the owner Cindy still remembered Lily.

Lily really looks forward to her time at The Little Gym and she can’t wait for their Summer Camp as well. Her birthday is in September and she has already made plans to have it there. We will also be signing Abby up for her first class during their Summer session, I can’t wait for her to have a great time there too.

Filed Under: Blog, Cullo Family News, Dawn's Blog Tagged With: Dawn, Lily, The Little Gym

Easter Madness

April 4, 2010 By Dawn Cullo Leave a Comment

Abbity Rabbity

Ok, well it wasn’t really madness but I thought that it was going to be. Now having two young kids makes everything take longer and just seem like more of a pain in the booty. Don’t get me wrong, I love my girls but holy cow now we have even more crap to lug around, especially on a Holiday visit to the in-laws.

However, this Easter I was pleasantly surprised, it went very smooth….omg did I say that? I could not believe how awesome my Easter was.

Lily was so well behaved and I was so proud of her as she didn’t gather ALL of the Easter eggs during the hunt at Grandma’s, she left some for her younger cousins. Abby was the best baby EVER! She cried when she wanted to be fed, took naps when she was tired and even did some socializing. I just couldn’t believe how un-stressed I was….it was a very nice feeling.

However, the days before Easter were a bit stressful for me. You see, I am a very organized gal…ok I used to be before I had the girls. Normally, I would have had all of my Easter stuff done at least the weekend if not a few days before. This time, I didn’t start until Friday and I was still putting things together on Saturday night, which drove me a bit batty. The whole time I was putting Lily’s Easter basket together I was so sure she was going to come bounding down the stair and ruin the surprise, but she didn’t and I stressed for no reason. She slept through the night, unlike me though. I was up every two hours with Abby and then up at 6:30 when Lily woke up to see what the Easter Bunny brought. *sigh* So we started our day pretty early and I had a headache the entire day, but it was still a good day.

Filed Under: Blog, Dawn's Blog Tagged With: Abigail, Celebration, Dawn, Easter, Family, Holiday, Lily, Louis

Mabel’s Labels BlogHer Contest

March 14, 2010 By Dawn Cullo Leave a Comment

I was told by my friend Mabel that electrical storms are going to wipe out the Internet (perhaps forever). I only have one day left to write about my passion of photography. Time can’t be controlled, it continues to tick away every second and there is no way to stop time except when taking a photograph. I use my camera as tool to freeze time, capture memories, capture emotions and see the changes in those around us.

The photograph doesn’t need to be technologically perfect to convey the emotion of the moment. I don’t have a photography degree, I don’t’ have a fancy studio or use fancy equipment. I just use my trusty point & shoot digital camera. At family gatherings I will take some posed shots but my favorite kind of photographs to take are the candid types. Candid photographs really tell the best story and can convey great emotions.

I enjoy taking photographs of my family and friends but I also enjoy taking photographs of landscapes. The seasons change our landscapes throughout the year and I find this interesting how just one mountain range or field of grass can change so much through the seasons and I enjoy being able to capture those changes.

I would like to travel around the world to take landscape photographs. I have been to San Francisco and my heart was pumping faster when I was taking photographs of the Golden Gate Bridge. I really enjoyed taking those photographs and want to do more of it.

Being able to freeze time and capture the changes of landscapes and people is a powerful tool to have and I am grateful that I am able to use this power to make people smile, remember and appreciate the things around them.

Filed Under: Blog, Dawn's Blog Tagged With: Dawn, Mabel’s Labels BlogHer ‘10 Contest

Super Bowl Family

February 14, 2010 By Dawn Cullo 2 Comments

We celebrated Super Bowl Sunday by putting on our Raider gear and making some yummy snack foods. We really like Franks Red Hot sauce so Louis made his “Hot Nuggets”. It is simple to make, just dice up some chicken and bread it then fry it up in a pan. In another pan melt butter and add Frank’s Red Hot Sauce and mix well. When the chicken is done place it in a serving bowl and pour the sauce over the chicken and turn to coat. Serve with blue cheese dressing or buttermilk dressing.

Abigail in her Raider gear

Our first family portrait

Filed Under: Blog, Cullo Family News, Dawn's Blog Tagged With: Abigail, Dawn, Family, Lily, Louis, Superbowl

Due Date, Smooe Date

January 13, 2010 By Dawn Cullo Leave a Comment

When I found out I was pregnant in May I headed figured out my due date based upon my LMP and came up with a due date of January 21st. However, once I visited the doctor he told me that it was going to be January 7th, what? Well, according to them all women are apparently on the same 28 day cycle…yeah right! My cycles are 41 days people and I can totally prove it!! But, he would not listen as we all know how ‘godly’ some doctors can be. So we moved along in the pregnancy and have been given 3 different due dates during the ultrasounds that we have had. All three were more towards the end of January, but my doctor always just stuck with January 14th. Guess what? Today is January 13th and I am still pregnant.

I know that due dates are just an estimate but darn it, I thought I would of had this little angel by now. I have prepared myself and my family so much for this day. My house is cleaned, laundry done, Lily’s child care for the event (somewhat) planned and now we need to wait another week.

I was hoping that he would at least strip my membranes today however, I learned that because I am Group B positive it could become a problem and cause an infection.

I am still having Braxton Hicks contractions and totally uncomfortable but things could be worse, right? Today was my 40 week appointment and after my exam the doctor indicated that I was not going to be induced today and I was pretty darn bummed. However, he did send me over to Labor & Delivery to have them check my amniotic fluid levels. With my first pregnancy 4 years ago at 40 weeks my fluid was 25% low and so I was induced. However, this time everything check out fine. I was hooked up to a fetal monitor and Baby Abigail did great through the two contractions that I had. The Nurse Practitioner did the ultrasound and found that my amniotic fluid levels were just fine and she even printed a picture of Abigail so we got to see her sweet face today. The nurse even ordered lunch for me (I didn’t have to ask for it) so I got a free meal and I found out that there is Free WiFi at the hospital, cool.

So, yes it is annoying that I am still pregnant but at least we know that everything is ok and according to me my due date is January 21st. I’ve also always said that I wanted her birthday to be as far away from Christmas as possible, really who wants their birthday right after Christmas anyway.

The one piece of advice that we did get from my doctor and the Nurse Practitioner was to have sex. They said that semen contains prostaglandins which can stimulate contractions. So, guess what we will be doing for the next week?

And by the way, my hospital bag has been in my car for over a week now! Guess it is safe to take it out now.

Filed Under: Blog, Dawn's Blog Tagged With: Abigail, Dawn, Pregnancy

Waiting To Get This Party Started

January 9, 2010 By Dawn Cullo Leave a Comment

I had my doctor’s appointment last week and found that my ‘baby door’ is shut tight! I am not due until January 14th so really there isn’t too much of a rush except that my doctor seems to think that Abigail is going to be a big baby and he would like for things to get moving. I feel though that if she is doing well in my tummy (no stress to her) then that is where she can stay until the due date. Lily was only a few days over due and she was 7 pounds, no biggie right? So, I declined my doctors offer to have my membranes stripped and we left the office hoping to get things started on our own. On the way home I had numerous erratic contractions known as Braxton Hicks contractions and this gave me hope that with our own methods I would be in labor in no time.

That was a few days ago and here I sit, in my office writing this blog and still no baby. Louis is right….the doctor is the professional and I should have listen to him and had my membranes stripped in the office. We have endured hours and miles of walking, foot massaging and even more walking. Prior to my doctors appointment I was walking at Walmart, Target, Costco etc and having a really hard time getting through it because there was so much pressure in my cervix. So after leaving the doctor’s office I was confident that Louis and I would need to just give it ‘one good walk’ around the mall a few times and wham things would naturally progress. I was so confident in fact that Louis is already taken time off of work because we thought we would be in labor and have Abigail by now. Wrong.

We strapped on our tennis shoes on Thursday night and walked at the Arden Fair Mall. We walked that darn thing 6 times which resulted in 3 miles and all I got was a blister and a swollen right foot. We managed to sneak in some spicy Thai food and a piece or two of See’s candy (dark chocolate vanilla butter cream and a picked up a small gift for Lily from the Hello Kitty store to give to her when she visits me and Abigail in the hospital. I had 1 Braxton Hicks contraction the entire time.

Ok, so next day we try the walking thing again, but this time it is complicated by the fact that Lily has decided that she is doesn’t want to go to preschool and takes normal than longer to get her booty into gear and we are late for school. I couldn’t walk at the mall as we had planned so we just walked around Target and after about 10 laps we ended up doing some grocery shopping. I even fired up my Wii and did some Yoga with my Wii Fit and some dancing on EA Active Sports.

Later that evening we ended up at the Roseville Galleria for some more walking but by this point I was so sore from walking I wasn’t sure it was a good idea. We walked a little bit, but not as much as we should have. It was rather difficult to do this with a 4 year old so we just gave up and at dinner and did some shopping. I did however get some great deals on bath products from Lush and Lily scored on some soap from there too. We came home and I took a nice warm bath with my new bath products and just relaxed.

Now, here is it Saturday and I have a sore throat, blisters, shin splints and I am exhausted. I’ve had a few more Braxton Hicks, but nothing major. This really wasn’t the ‘end game’ I had in mind. By now, I had hoped to have Abigail in my arms and possibly even home by now. But, I know that she will be here soon and I just need to enjoy the time we have together and relax because soon this house is going to be a loud crazy mad house and I will be longing for these quite lazy days.

Filed Under: Blog, Dawn's Blog Tagged With: Abigail, Braxton Hicks, Dawn, Labor, Pregnancy

Packing For The Hospital, Who Needs Tennis Balls?

January 3, 2010 By Dawn Cullo Leave a Comment

When I was packing for the hospital for my labor with Lily I took an actual suitcase full of crap and basically used 1% of the items. I swear, sometimes Baby Preparation guide books should be burned! They are useless and I think that only your friends have the best advice. I have no idea where the list that I followed 4 years ago was from but holy cow it was a joke. It suggested that I pack massage oil, tennis balls and a massager. Jesus Christ, once those contractions hit all I wanted to do was crush those tennis balls and throw them across the room, not massage my back with them….useless advice unless I was supposed to crush them. The only thing that really came in handy were the snacks, I was famished after going through labor, it was like running a marathon that I did not train for.

Here is a picture of my bag from last time with Lily

Hospital Bag from 4 Years Ago

Now, I have gotten a wee bit smarter and I am taking notes from other mommies and lists that I find online. These online lists are more up-to-date and realistic. The one site that I like the best is Baby Center and here is a link to their Hospital Packing list. I am also not taking my super big suitcase, just a carry on for me.

Here is a list of the things that I will be taking:

Electronics – pocket camera, Flip video camera, cell phone charger, MP3 Player with headphones
Personal Care Items – shampoo, toothbrush, toothpaste, lip balm, pads, hair ties, brush, lotion,
Clothing – nightgown, undies, going home outfit for Mommy, socks with grippers
Journal Items – either notepad & pen or my Baby Journal
Baby Abigail Items – going home outfit, blanket, pacifier, socks

Any other things you can think of? Just leave your comment below.

Filed Under: Blog, Dawn's Blog Tagged With: Dawn, Hospital, Pregnancy

Affiliate Marketing, Why Aren’t You Doing It?

January 3, 2010 By Dawn Cullo Leave a Comment

bens eyes The idea of affiliate marketing isn’t a new concept but if you are unfamiliar with it the idea is simple. I have a product and if you tell your friend about it and the buy it then I will give you 20% of the sales price. Sounds great right? But how is this accomplished in the virtual world? This is done via affiliate URL’s that are tracked using your internet cookies. When you click on a promotional affiliate link it stays in your cookies and if you make a purchase on that website it then tracks who the affiliate member is. You can click the link today, but then go back months later to the site to make the purchase and the affiliate can still be tracked and make their commission.

There are plenty of other Entrepreneurs out there that have affiliate marketing programs that work really well because they have proven products that work and the Entrepreneur is well liked and trusted. When looking for an affiliate program to join ( and joining is free ) you will want to join one that gives you the tools to easily promote that Entrepreneurs product. These types of tools are things like product graphics, pre-written email messages and Tweets. If they don’t provide those types of items then you are going to need to create them on your own and that can take some time to do on your end. How do you know if someone has an affiliate program? If they have a program this will be listed right on their website and you can check it out before joining. Here is a link to Ali Brown’s affiliate program, and I highly recommend joining her first because she has a great program.

An example of some really great programs ( that I am a member of ) are Ali Brown, David Neagle and Katrina Sawa and Erin Blaskie. These are higher end Entrepreneurs who have teams of people who create their affiliate promotion products for them, have proven products that work and often have new items to promote. They also have specific websites called Affiliate Resource Centers where you can see how many clicks and sales you have generated.

Most affiliate programs will pay you one to two months after the sale is made once your sales amount reaches $50. The money can be transferred right into your PayPal account or you can opt to be paid via check.

I have made money with these affiliate programs and you can to, here’s how.

Utilize the pre-written email messages, why? Because a professional Affiliate Manager or the Entrepreneur has written them and they are the ones who know ‘how’ to sell their products. These message can be sent out to your email marketing list or made into a blog post on your blog.
Utilize the pre-written Tweets provided and create automated Tweets to be sent at specific times to promote a specific product, service or upcoming event. I currently use HootSuite to automate my Tweets and Status updates. You can also use Social Oomph (previously known as Tweetlater) to automate your tweets as well.
Add a graphic to your web site or blog site promoting the Entreprenur, one of their products or an upcoming event.

Affiliate marketing can be fun, espeically when making money!! What are your favorite affiliate marketing programs?

Resources mentioned in this blog posting were:

Ali Brown’s Affiliate Program – Join this affiliate program 1st!
Katrina Sawa - Affiliate Program
David Neagle - Affiliate Program
Erin Blaskie - Affiliate Program
HootSuite – Automate your status updates & promotional Tweets
Social Oomph – Automate your promotional Tweets

Filed Under: Blog, Sunrise Virtual Services Tagged With: Affiliate Marketing, Ali Brown, David Neagle, Dawn, Katrina Sawa, Virtual Assisting

Maternity Leave and Making Money as an Entrepreneur

January 3, 2010 By Dawn Cullo 1 Comment

My “maternity leave” (and I use that term very loosely) is coming up. As I write this post I am about 11 days away from baby Abigail’s due date but if you are a mommy already you know how that date is really not as accurate as one would like and this unknowing about the due date can be stressful. As an entrepreneur I don’t get the traditional paid Maternity Leave, if I don’t work I don’t get any money. Which is a scary thought for me.

Since I have been working from home I have pretty much been in charge the money flow for my business depending upon how many clients I assist. I’ve made sure that I work enough hours to pay for food, a few basic necessities (like Diet Coke hee hee) and Lily’s preschool which these days can wipe out that paycheck pretty quickly. So what will I do now that I will be out of commission for a few days while in the hospital giving birth? Well, I plan on automating my business of course!

The Social Media world that I currently work in has opened my eyes to many passive income opportunities and team delegating. Now, I am not talking about any type of ‘get rich quick’ kind of deals but more along the idea of affiliate marketing, scheduled promotions, automated blog posts, article marketing and ebooks which can result in passive income. These activities take a little bit of time to set up but once they are done you can relax and enjoy the passive income. You can read more about how to set up passive income techniques on my company website at Sunrise Virtual Services and specifically this post about Affiliate Marketing

Another thing that I will be doing is delegating some tasks to another virtual assistant to help out with some of my clients activities. How will I make money this way if I give the work away? Simple, we will divide up the money. For example, if I charge the client $35.00 for Article Marketing I will pay my ‘helper’ $20.00 to post the articles and I will pocket the $15.00. While I am not making the full $35.00 I am still pulling in some money.

I will also be enlisting the help of my husband, he is a super savvy guy and really does understand my business. He will be doing some of the tasks that I do on a daily basis for my clients and thus we are still pulling in money for the company. Since my work can really be done 24/7 I plan on jumping on the computer and doing about an hour of work a day. I also receive my email on my Blackberry so I really don’t need to be in front of my computer to get some of my work done or to delegate it out to someone else.

So, while I have been busy getting ready for Baby Abigial I have also been getting my business ready to make some money while I take care of our newest Cullo.

Filed Under: Blog, Dawn's Blog Tagged With: Dawn, Sunrise Virtual Services, Virtual Assisting, Working

Gingerbread House, NOT!

December 20, 2009 By Dawn Cullo Leave a Comment

Last year I reluctantly made a gingerbread house with Lily and it came out ok, but it was a very frustrating process and partly because I didn’t totally read through ALL of the directions. This year Lily would NOT stop asking about making another one so I finally gave in and picked one up at Michael’s Craft store and this year Louis was going to help with this madness.

I made sure that Louis read through the directions so that I wouldn’t screw it up this year. He even made the icing, but that actually turned out to be a hard task and we should have just stopped there. Louis started to assemble the house and when he was putting on the roof the whole thing just fell apart and we said ‘ forget it ‘ and we each took pieces of the house and decorated them and at them. I think Lily liked this better than having to wait for the whole house to be finished.

So, next year when I say “no, let’s not get a gingerbread house” I think that there will be no arguing and we will just decorate Gingerbread Men cookies instead.