What is this? Two blog posts in one day?

I know. It comes courtesy of some bad Chinese food and a sick day. But it also comes because I had a few announcements to make that kept getting pushed aside for, you know, regular posts.

The devotional
If you missed it, my monthly article was posted at (in)courage yesterday. It’s called “Used to Be,” and if I do say so myself, it’s good stuff. That may be because I collaborated with Holley for this month’s message, but regardless, I hope you read it.

The discounts
Let’s see a show of hands. Who’s going to BlogHer next week? What about Relevant in October?

I was kidding, you know. I can’t see your hands. I would love to know if you’re going, though. Another expensive (though, I’m sure, amazing) trip wasn’t in my budget this year, but I can’t wait to read about my friends’ adventures at these events!

Oh yeah – the discount. As you might recall, I was unaware of the importance of business cards at my first blog conference. No longer a newbie, I am still a procrastinator. And if you’re like me, that might mean you still haven’t crossed “Order business cards” off your to-do list.

That’s where VistaPrint comes in. You can get 250 FREE business cards at VistaPrint. All you pay for is shipping. [And, of course, if you need them by next week, that will cost you more than if you need them in two months.]

Here’s how it works: Visit VistaPrint, choose a design (they have several super cute ones), select the free options of matte paper and a black/white back side, fill out your contact info, select your shipping option – and bam! You can cross that one off your list.

But wait! There’s more!

I know. That’s so annoying, isn’t it? But I really do have another great deal for you that’s relevant to anyone wanting to improve their blogs.

I attended the Savvy Blogging Summit earlier this month, and It. Was. Awesome. The recordings of each Savvy Blogging Summit session are now for sale, and until noon (EST) tomorrow, you can get 50% off the entire package by using the coupon code CHEYENNE.

If you wanted to, but weren’t able to, attend Savvy Blogging – or if you are interested in improving your blog at all, I highly recommend checking out these session recordings. From media kits, photography and SEO to law/accounting, proposal writing and strategic planning, these sessions are packed with great information.

Each session costs $10, or you can get all 12 sessions for $97 (before the 50% discount).

Visit Savvy Blogging to purchase one or all of the session recordings. And just an FYI: if you purchase all, the download time is about 15-30 minutes.

And some announcements
This summer, I’ve been looking at a few of the ways I define or describe myself with my More Than Defined series. Next Friday, August 6, will be the last installment of this series, and I’m inviting you to play along.

For anyone who would like to join me in More Than Defined, I’ll have a link-up next week.

And last, but most exciting to me, you may notice that my site gets a little wonky in the next several days. That’s because I’m movin’ on up to a WordPress site, and Deanna from Design Chicky is in the process of making the magic happen.

I’d like to think it will be a seamless move, but given the hour I spent trying to just access my domain host account, it may be more difficult than I assume.

So, while we’re at it, do YOU have any announcements to make? Tell us what’s going on in your life?

Affiliate links are used in this post, and the image is by altemark.

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I can still see my 12-year-old self, lying across my friend’s bed, sobbing my heart out. It would be another year before my “boring” family would take a dive into dysfunction, so the news I’d just received was the most devastating blow I could imagine.

After finally signing me up for dance lessons, my parents were pulling me out. Just a few months after putting on a leotard and joining the cool girls in the ballet/jazz/tap combo class that was well above my beginner abilities, my parents realized they could not actually afford to continue my lessons.

I was crushed.

To this day, actually, I’m a little bit sad. Could it just be Dream Deferred Syndrome that makes me believe I could have been a good dancer? Is my hindsight clouded by a rose-colored lens?

Maybe. Whatever the explanation, and whether it’s sad and delusional or not, I truly think that somewhere inside my overweight, out-of-shape, 31-year-old body is a dancer.

Never mind my short legs and large frame. Never mind an aversion to leggings. Never mind my track record as a clutz.

I could be a dancer.

That’s right. I used present tense, my friends. Because I plan to celebrate National Dance Day by performing a dance routine choreographed by Napoleon and Tabitha D’umo.

Don’t get too excited. First of all, Nappytabs didn’t actually create a dance for me alone. They choreographed a routine for National Dance Day and put together a video to teach us newbies. Second of all, I will be performing it alone (or perhaps with Smitty, if I can convince her to join me) and not with a flash mob. Unfortunately.

And last but definitely not least, I will not be performing this in front of anyone! Are you crazy?!

My friend, Sara, has started a series on her blog called YOU:create. She’s encouraging her readers to do one creative thing each week and then link up proof on Thursdays. In the first week, I dusted off my out-of-tune piano and played a little song.

I’m using this dance for my YOU:create entry. I’m not sure how to prove that I’m doing it, though. Maybe I’ll videotape my feet. Because if you think I’m recording myself busting a move or breaking a leg (perhaps literally), you are out of your mind.

I mean, have you noticed the lack of photos of me around here? I saw someone on Twitter say a while back that Facebook is proof that everyone has one good photo of themselves. So true, so true. (My profile pic is almost two years old – and you can’t even really see my face!)

So, help me out. How should I prove that I’m doing this dance?

And if you’d like to join me in celebrating National Dance Day, here’s the tutorial from Tabitha and Napoleon:

Images by Through Your Eyes, vivacious_kate and Pink Sherbet Photography.

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This post will be linked to Wordless Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Mom.

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Can’t get enough of Giving Up on Perfect? Subscribe here, follow me on Twitter and join my Facebook page.

I wrote this as a guest post at Bec’s I Heart Blog a few weeks ago, and I thought I’d share it with you, too. (The image is by hiddedevries.)

I remember this one slumber party in high school. I’m not sure what the occasion was, but snacks and movies and giggling were surely involved. At one point in the evening, we were piled in my friend Angie’s room singing along with whatever song came on the radio.

And I grabbed a hairbrush and rocked out.

That might not seem significant to you, but to me, it was memorable. For that brief moment, I was free. I wasn’t embarrassed, I wasn’t self-conscious. I just sang.

From middle school on, I was in every chorus and choir our school had. I sang a few solos, some duets and even a sextet (which, as you can imagine, prompted many rude jokes from the male members of our choir).

Smitty and I loved to argue about who first said it, but regardless, we both believed it: There’s a song about everything. And that means that everything made me think of a song.

But ask me to sing the song that I so cleverly thought of? Um, no thanks!

I wanted to sing. I realized how silly it was. But singing on a stage, with lights and microphone and crowds down below, is one thing. Singing by myself, standing in front of someone, even my closest friends? That was way too intimidating.

College, marriage and my early career years helped me let go of a lot of my reservations. Or, more accurately, made me a little less uptight. But I still had this thing, this hang-up about singing.

Even though I sang in a huge choir, led worship at church and sang solos, too.
There was just something so awkward about impromptu singing, something embarrassing about potential sour notes and forgotten words.

As a matter of fact, a few years ago I was forced (FORCED!) into singing karaoke at a work retreat. I fought it, I protested it; but they made me do it. I thought I was going to die. {Although, for the record, my rendition of “Walks Like an Egyptian” was quite impressive.}

Something happened shortly after that incident, though. I had a baby. A baby who likes music. And so, I sing.

I sing her to sleep. I sing her awake. I sing to her in the bath, and I sing to her as I get her dressed. I sing about her toys and our family and our cats and her hair and her toes.

I sing All. The. Time.

While before, everything made me think of songs that I couldn’t share with anyone, now I blurt out notes and melodies at the drop of a hat.

Sometimes I don’t even realize what I’m doing. Like this past weekend, when I tried to distract my cranky daughter in the car by naming all the things she could see outside her window.

After she decided that the sky was, in fact, blue not red, I could hear it in my head: Blue skies smilin’ at me. Nothin’ but blue skies do I see . . .

The next thing I heard was my husband chuckling. I asked him what was so funny, and he said, “That’s the last thing I ever thought I’d hear: you singing Willie Nelson.”

{Background: I’m not a real big Willie Nelson fan.}

Little did he know, I wasn’t. I was singing Frank Sinatra!

But what was more interesting is that I was singing at all. Not in the shower. Not to the radio. Not within the comfort of a choir or lighted stage. Nope, I was just singing whatever came to mind – without thinking about it, without even realizing it.

I love singing. And now, it seems, I can actually do it whenever I want!

Do you like to sing? Are you embarrassed to sing in front of certain people, or do you let it all hang out no matter who’s around?

This post will be linked to Tuesdays Unwrapped at Chatting at the Sky.

P.S. According to the Internet, the title I originally wrote for this post (Sing a Song) is also the title of a “well-known song by Earth, Wind & Fire.” Far be it from me to argue with the Internet, but I’m pretty sure I’ve never heard of it. Have you? [Sing a Song by Earth, Wind & Fire]

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