Goal setting is always a fun topic of conversation, but it’s putting your goals into action and turning them into a reality that is the difficult part, don’t you agree? So, hang out with the #gno crowd on Twitter this Tuesday and share tips for making your New Year’s Resolutions stick.

Check out this week’s giveaway here and enter to win a $100 Barnes & Noble gift card, a $100 Lucy.com gift card, a lifetime subscription to Mindbloom, and an Body + Soul magazine subscription.

What: Girls’ Night Out (#gno) Twitter party (Click here to learn about #gno!)

When: Tuesday, January 5, 9-11 p.m. EST (8CT, 7 MT, & 6 PT)

Where: Party with us here on our custom Tweetgrid. (Use hashtags #gno and #mindbloom.)

Topic: New Year’s Resolutions and Goal Setting

Who: @conniefoggles @ericamueller @jennyonthespot @mamikaze @mindbloom @mindbloomsusan @mommyniri @mrsflinger @organizersandy @superdumb @tipjunkie

Party Favors: Click here to enter for a chance to win this week’s giveaway from Mindbloom. Deadline: Wednesday, January 6 at midnight PT.


RSVP: Please leave your Twitter ID in the comments to follow and be followed (on Twitter, of course!) by other #gno gals. The best format is as follows: http://twitter.com/jylmomIF.

What: Crayola Creativitycast on #gno (Click here to learn more about #gno!)

When: Tuesday, August 18, 9-11 p.m. EST

Where: Click here to party with us on our custom Tweetgrid. (Use hashtags #gno & #crayola.)

Topic: Back-to-School Tips (making the back-to-school shopping season fun and affordable)

Who: @brandyellen from Happily Blended, @cerisecheri from Crayola, @katjapresnal from Skimbaco Lifestyle, @michellelamar from White Trash Mom, @razzmatazzrob from Crayola, @skybluestacy from Crayola, @tjstaab from Currently Crafting

Party Favors: Click here to check out this week’s giveaway sponsored by Crayola.

RSVP: The link list is not working this week, so please leave your Twitter ID in the comments.

Whether you’ll be going to BlogHer or not, Join #GNO this Tuesday where experts from Lifetime TV and Twitter fashionistas will share their best tips for style success and fashion faux pas in 140 characters or less.

• What: Girl’s Night Out (What’s GNO? Click to find out!)
• When: Tuesday, July 21, 9-11 p.m. EDT
• Where: Party with us on our very own Custom Tweetgrid! (Use hashtag #gno.)
  
• Topic: Fashion!
  
• Who: @audreymcclellan, @bowlher, @erikalehmann, @fashiongrail, @lifetimetv
• Party Favors: Remember to check out this week’s giveaway sponsored by Lifetime.
• RSVP: Enter your twitter URL/ID in the list below (e.g., http://twitter.com/jylmomIF).

Mr. Linky not showing up? Go ahead and leave your Twitter URL in the comments. This offers #gno gals the opportunity to follow and be followed all in one place!

Also, make sure to check out the details for the BlogHer party that is sure to be a ball: BowlHer ’09!

10 Delicious Ways to Make a Difference This Week

Service doesn’t have to be bland or boring! Spice it up. Sweeten the pot. Make it delicious. Think of people that need a little love and touch their heart by going through their stomach during this week’s Summer of Service Challenge, sponsored by Campbell’s. How? By making and sharing a tasty treat, including one or more of the 10 ideas listed below!

For more ideas, join us for a great Girl’s Night Out (#gno) on Twitter this Tuesday night. And, please share a comment on this post with other ways to serve others by sharing a tasty treat.

1. Make some baked goods—cupcakes, cookies, bread, muffins, etc.—and take them to a neighbor.
2. Take a meal to someone in your community that is sick or needs a night off from kitchen duty.
3. Spend one-on-one time with your children by having a cooking class with them to prepare dinner for the family! For a special treat, do a craft activity beforehand to make paper chef’s hats.
4. Have a family activity where you make a tasty treat together, such as suckers, decorated sugar cookies, chocolate-dipped strawberries and pretzels, etc.
5. Have a couple’s night in! Invite your closest friends over with their significant others for a fondue party. Play the newlywed game no matter how long everyone has been in their relationship.
6. As a family, choose another family that needs some love or an act of kindness/service. Drop off an anonymous treat on their doorstep with a nice card telling them how much you love them.
7. Organize a girl’s night out with your closest girlfriends and have a progressive dinner where you rotate houses during the meal, starting with appetizers, moving on to salad, heading to the main course, and ending somewhere else for the dessert.
8. Treat your spouse or close friend to a dinner at his or her favorite restaurant!
9. Make your family’s favorite meal and decorate the table special just for them. Devote the evening to family time by turning off phones, TV, etc.
10. Make your children’s favorite cookies, making a different batch once a week until you’ve made all of their favorites. Don’t forget to include your favorite as well!

How Will You Give to Others This Week?

• What other ideas do you have for sharing a tasty treat?
• How has touching other’s hearts by going through their stomach made a meaningful difference this week for you? For others?

How Else Can You Make a Difference This Summer?

Make a meaningful difference this summer by taking the Summer of Service (SOS) Challenge. Here’s how you can participate:

• Commit to do one act of kindness/service based on the week’s challenge.
• Leave a comment with ideas relating to the week’s challenge as well as your experience(s) performing it.
• Grab the SOS button in the sidebar and put it on your blog or social networking site.
• Enter to win each week’s giveaway. Check out this week’s prizes from Campbell’s.
• Join #gno this Tuesday on Twitter to connect with other Mom It Forward moms about the challenge.

• What: Girl’s Night Out (What’s GNO? Click here to find out!)
• When: Tuesday, July 14, 9-11 p.m. EDT
• Where: Party with us on our very own Custom Tweetgrid! (Use hashtag #gno.)
  
• Topic: Simple Summer Meals
  
• Who: @bowlher @citymama @mombloggersclub @erikalehmann @plussizemommy @rachelferrucci @scrappinmichele @thinkmaya
• Party Favors: Remember to check out this week’s giveaway sponsored by Campbell’s.
• RSVP: Enter your twitter URL/ID in the list below (e.g., http://twitter.com/jylmomIF).

#GNO is talking frugal living, budgeting, couponing, and convenience shopping this week and we have a terrific panel lined up, including amazing folks from the recently launched Alice.com team, among many other fabulously frugal gals. Join the #gno gang here this Tuesday night to share in the discussion.

• What: Girl’s Night Out (What’s GNO? Click here to find out!)
• When: Tuesday, June 30, 9-11 p.m. EDT
• Where:  Party with us using our custom Tweetgrid. (Use hashtags #gno and #alice.)
  
• Topic: Frugal living, budgeting, couponing, and grocery shopping
  
• Who: @alice @bwiegand @consumerqueen @couponprincess @dealseekingmom @julieFBT @mhorine @savingeveryday
• Party Favors: Remember to check out this week’s giveaway sponsored by Alice.com.
• RSVP: Enter your twitter URL/ID in the list below (e.g., http://twitter.com/jylmomIF).

If you could look closely—perhaps only possible through a 3D sketch, allowing you to go much further beyond the surface—you’d realize that the laughter and sharing was made up of far more than glee and fun. It was made up of experience, learning, and LIFE!

You’d learn that one woman in the room has breast cancer and had recently undergone a double mastectomy. One woman has Lupus and she made a choice to trade one night of connection for several energy-less days after. Of course, we only saw her laughter. One woman has had 42 staples in her head and 4 screws in her jaw from Epilepsy. Another is in and out of the hospital on a monthly basis with her toddler, hearing shifting diagnosis and unanswered questions.  Yet another is fighting a court battle to keep her adopted son. A couple are on the brink of bankruptcy. More than one woman is pregnant and one in particular is experiencing the joys of all-day/all-pregnancy sickness. Another was experiencing her last hooray before uprooting her family to move them cross country for her husband’s education. More than one woman didn’t know a single soul in the room. One gal was recently divorced and many were single parents. A couple were empty nesters, vying for more time with their grandchildren. Yet another was fighting to keep her business afloat during these hard economic times. The list could go on, making the stories within the stories much deeper and richer in color.

But to look at the room—or the sketch I would have drawn—wouldn’t have told you all that. And yet, that strength, that dedication to endure and triumph through life’s challenges is what makes inspiring women out of us all. It connects us, draws us to each other, gives us the compassion and knowledge to support each other. Ultimately, it empowers us to change the world one mom at a time.

Today’s “inspiring moms” post is a dedication to women everywhere who have stories upon stories, some for public view and others under lock and key. The tightly woven and intricate patterns of your lives, with broken thread and mistakes and all, make the world a better place to be! Thanks for inspiring me!

Quinn, the creative genius behind Created by Mom, is having a 1-day conference next month in Salt Lake City, UT (click here for details). The best part? She’s having all sorts of pre-parties and asked me if I’d #GNO on location from her parties. When she first asked me, I immediately said no! Emphatically, in fact. I mean, I’m an extreme extrovert. Sitting behind a computer all night would be really uncomfortable for me. But after talking to Megan, the owner of The Sweet Tooth Fairy and creator of the VaNIElla cupcake (click here for the amazing details… although you may want to have a tissue handy), I was excited. Again, should I mention the “c” word… OK! You convinced me. Say it with me: “CUPCAKES!” (See the smiles on our faces below? [Evonne (left) and me (right)] That is how we felt after eating said delicacy!)

I was sooooooo glad I went. As it turns out, #GNO-ing on location is really fun. Yes, I was behind a computer, which in essence, clipped my social butterfly wings. But… I got my friend fix tenfold by tweeting with the fantastic #gno community side by side with some other great tweeting friends, including: @emihill, @petit_elefant, @phemom, @keepingupwmom, @sweetlifeinthe, @momswhomakeit, @createdbymom, @jet_set, @evonnesell, and @inevergrewup. I could have online as well as offline discussions going on about the topic, the great comments #gno gals were sharing, the phenomenal panelists’ tips, etc. I even got advice on the questions I was asking and suggestions on some better ones to pose. In addition, party goers at the live event not on Twitter were able to check out the Tweet Grid I was on and see what Twitter and #gno was all about. Sometimes, seeing is believing, you know?

The best part? Being around so many inspiring women both online and offline all at once and recognizing that friendship is one of the greatest gifts ever (especially when accompanied by cupcakes!).

• What: Girl’s Night Out (What’s GNO? Click here to find out!)
• When: Tuesday, June 16, 9-11 p.m. EDT
• Where: Check out our custom Tweet Grid made just for this party by clicking here! (Use the #gno hashtag.)
  
• Topic: Emergency Preparedness
  
• Who: @mozy, @bnetty, @preparednesspro
  
• Party Favors: Remember to enter to win this week’s giveaway sponsored by Mozy. Click here for details.
• RSVP: Enter your twitter URL/ID in the list below (e.g., http://twitter.com/jyl_momIF). If you would like to include your blog, please enter it next to your name. Make sure to include your twitter URL in the URL line. Please do not enter your blog URL there.

You may recall I announced a Wisconsin blogger’s get together awhile back. The event was to be part of a campaign put together by the lovely ladies at Mom it Forward and would raise money for a great charity that helps Kenyan woman start their own coconut oil extraction business. Those oils are then sold to a company that make them into lotions, soaps and other products.

Besides, it’d be a lot of fun, yo.

I’ve planned a lot of events, and never have the details fallen into place so easily. It was like putting together a preschooler’s jig saw puzzle.

Easy peasy.

One great blogger offered to have the event at her house. Another owns a great online store and donated a gift card for our raffle. Early on, I had a lot of people excited that something local was being planned and looked forward to meeting other “imaginary friends” in person.

But somehow when it came time to collect registrations for the event, the numbers, well…trickled in. In the end, only three of us lovely ladies met for dinner this past Saturday.

Boy, did the rest of you miss out!

Carrie S., Carrie C. and myself (an honorary Carrie for the evening) met at Trattoria Stefano in lovely Sheboygan, Wisconsin and laughed ourselves silly.

It really was a great time. And who would have thought that in a small Wisconsin city, in a teeny little restaurant one could find such GREAT FOOD?!? Honestly, the prices were comparable to that of one of the chain crap restaurants, only Trattoria Stefano featured salads with “organic farm raised Norwegan salmon” and other entres with so many delicious ingredients that our server stood for five minutes at a time reciting them back to us.

(I translated after he left: “A salad with fish, a dish with some meat, and one with noodles, sauce and more meat.”)

We sampled the silky and yumma-licious lotions from Basa Body. (And found that despite how delicious it smells, the chocolate mint soap still tastes like soap if you take a bite. Thanks for that, Carrie S.)

And we laughed.

And enjoyed the fact that there were no little short people yelling, “MOOOOOM!”

And then we saw this guy and the night just got *thismuch* better.

Yes, that’s a full grown man in a nice restaurant wearing a Snuggie. (Who rocked because he didn’t bat an eye when we took his picture. And then told his wife, “You married THIS!” which was super awesome because we all concurred that was something our husbands would say.)

So, big thanks to the Carries for joining me for a super rad evening. Thanks to Basa Body for the lotion and Mom it Forward for organizing such a great chain of events for a great charity. And huge thanks to Angie of Good for the Kids for the raffle prize.

The rest of you — well, we hope you’ll be able to join us next time!

Just a few finishing thoughts:

1) Buying a product from Basa Body or donating $20 to The Pope Foundation (the charity that trains Kenyan women to start their own oil extraction businesses) between now and May 12 enters you to win one of three great gift cards, including a $250 Disney Gift Card, a $150 Amazon.com Gift Card or a $100 Target Gift Card! Click here for more info, or visit the Basa Body site or click on the widget in my left side bar to make a donation. You can still win!

2) If you don’t have money to donate right now, check out Mom it Forward’s “10 Ways to Donate to Charity Without Spending a Cent” article. Good stuff.

3) If you’re ever in Sheboygan, I highly recommend Trattoria Stefano or its “sister restaurant” across the street (owned by the same folks). Their menu was impressive and their prices budget friendly. Plus they let us sit and be all loud for nearly three hours and never once gave us the evil stink eye.

4) Come back on Friday – I’ll be giving away some of the Basa Body lotion. And, no, it doesn’t smell like coconuts.

Reposted with permission from Mommy Always Wins.