Alex and I spent last weekend learning how to build top rope anchors in Joshua Tree National Park.

And I have the sunburns to prove it.

What this means is: Alex and I hired a guide to take us into the park and show us how to build different types of anchors for top rope climbing (the kind of rock climbing you do where the rope is at a fixed point above you as you climb…like what you see on cruise ships or at your local rock climbing gym) and to climb a bit. We were paired up with another young climber from the LA area, and the three of us had a blast getting to know each other while also learning a million different kinds of knots. Millions.

I think I love climbing and learning to build these anchors because it’s like a giant puzzle…and because it’s kind of like a grown-up version of Legends of the Hidden Temple…mostly the second one. Placing the gear into cracks you would normally overlook to construct a way to hold some ropes that will keep me safe should I fall sounds super scary (and it is!) but it is also a really incredible feeling knowing that you are able to do something with the gear and make good/safe choices!

Not only did we practice making anchors, we learned how to go from the top of wherever we built our anchor to the bottom where the rope hits the ground! I’ve done some rappelling in the past, but this  was way cool because we had to move from one rope to another safely…again, a freaking awesome puzzle. I tried to find a video that would explain what we did, but I can’t…I’ll keep looking.

And what’s a weekend away without eating? We stopped at our favorite Joshua Tree restaurant, Crossroads Cafe, after our first day of class (class went from 8 – 4ish on both Saturday and Sunday) where Alex had the Hell Tacos (spicy Seitan tacos) and a cold beer and I had a BLT with an added chicken breast inside with a side of mac n cheese and some juice. Doesn’t food always taste more amazing after you’ve been outside all day?

We also stopped at a new-to-us place across the street from Crossroads Cafe: Natural Sisters Cafe. Both locations offer vegetarian options, but Natural Sisters has more vegan options and even locally-made Kombucha. They have great juices, smoothies, sandwiches  and an awesome spinach and cheese breakfast burrito. If you’re looking for vegetarian options while in this area of the desert, we highly suggest these two locations!

I can’t wait to get back out to Joshua Tree to do some more climbing, but it’ll be too hot until later this year. I’m hoping Alex and I can get up to Big Bear to do some climbing and maybe a few other mini-trips so we can get more experience and meet more climbers.

Have you been to Joshua Tree National Park?
When was the last time you took a weekend to dedicate to learning something new?

The post Learning How to Build Top Rope Anchors in Joshua Tree National Park appeared first on Campfire Chic.

Now, if you’ve been reading Campfire Chic for a while or follow me on Twitter, you know that I think really highly of Amy of Lemon and Raspberry. She’s the one who kicks me in the butt to keep me crossing things off of my list, to keep moving forward, and to make some brave choices. Even with less than 1,000 subscribers, Amy built a community and a brand…and she wants to teach you how to do the same.

Amy recently announced that she is launching this amazing ecourse in July that is designed to help you build a better blog…I got a behind-the-scenes peek at the ecourse when we had a mini-business meeting about a month ago, and let me tell you…it’s jam packed with actionable steps (like, brave steps!), downloadable content, tons of resources, and exclusive interviews with people you may recognize from around the internet. Seriously. I cannot wait to see the final product!

While the self-paced ecourse is available on July 9th, you can sign up now for free weekly emails to learn blogging basics and get a taste of what is coming in the ecourse! FREE CONTENT, you need to sign up for it right now, I mean, seriously.

How does it work?

Sign-up for the free, weekly emails – get blogging tips and resources that you can use right away.

In July you’ll get the information to register for the self-paced ecourse.

Upon registration you’ll get access to the private BUILD site, giving you immediate access to all the content, worksheets, external resources and bonus interviews to work through at your own pace. There are so many steps involved in running your blog as a business – that’s why this is a self-paced ecourse for you to read and use at your own pace.

Includes BONUS video interviews with …

• Elise of EliseJoy.com
• Mollie of Wild Olive
• Kam of Campfire Chic (That’s me!)
• Megan of The Nerd Nest
• Kristin of rukristin papercrafts
• Kara of I Just Might Explode

What information is covered?

You’ll learn everything from goals to establish when you start, to strategy for designing your sidebars, from how to get started selling digital products from your blog, to marketing your blog through guest posts and setting your mindset for long-term blog maintenance. You can see the outline of the ecourse and sign up for the free newsletter here.

What kinds of topics do you search for when working on your blog/brand?

This post contains affiliate links. There isn’t anything to buy yet, but if you click on the links and sign up for the newsletter and then register for the ecourse, I’ll be compensated for the sale. It’s a pretty neat way to support Campfire Chic. Check out the Disclosure Policy if you want to know more.

The post Let’s Talk About BUILDing a Better Blog appeared first on Campfire Chic.

2013 is for being brave. Setting brave goals, being brave enough, making brave plans…and making brave choices. I changed the Campfire Chic newsletter from being “hey, buy stuff from me” all the time to being a way for me to chat with subscribers about the different aspects of brave. Maybe that’s not your deal, but here’s an idea of what is going on in the monthly newsletter…maybe you’ll decide to subscribe to the newsletter so you get the scoop on these types of posts.

Like I mentioned earlier…it’s time to talk about making some brave choices.

You may be familiar with a certain blogger who had “Choose” as her One Little Word last year, I bet she would like the intention of making a brave choice. Do you think being brave is a choice?

Making a brave choice doesn’t have to be something extraordinary – like running into a burning building – but it can be something seemingly insignificant that ends up being a turning point in your life. It can be choosing to not go away for a weekend in Vegas so you can put that money toward paying off your student loans. It may be choosing to reach out to re-connect with your high school friends, or even becoming a foster parent. Each of those things is extraordinary to somebody, maybe it isn’t choosing to donate a kidney, but it is still a choice that may have taken quite a bit of thought on your part.

Making a choice that relates to the brave goals and brave plans we talked about earlier this year may just be the hardest thing we’ve done so far. We’re actually putting forth the effort to move away from making lists and plans and dreaming up possibilities and move toward crossing things off of those lists and plans and making those possibilities into realities! It can be as simple as scheduling a doctor’s appointment for an eye exam before you quit your job so you can use those benefits you’ve been paying into this whole time. It may be something as big as accepting that job out of state or re-enrolling in school to finish your degree. Take a look at your goals and plans see what you can take on right now…what choices need to be made in order for you to move forward?

Let’s not get too ahead of ourselves with the word “brave”. Let’s focus on making choices we may not normally think as brave:

• Registering to be a bone marrow donor
• Adopting a shelter animal
• Unsubscribing from that toxic Facebook friend/family member
• Going on a spending fast

In other words, we need to stop planning and start doing. Make the brave choice to take action…you have the choice to sit in your comfort zone or to step out and take action. Choose action.

What choices are on your horizon?

Any choices you made recently that changed your path?

The post Make a Brave Choice – Moving beyond the plans & taking action appeared first on Campfire Chic.

• Katie- Punk Projects
• Taylor- This Memorable Life
• Megan- The Nerd Nest
• Mandy- Chocolate and Cream Cake
• Kam (me!)- Campfire Chic
• Regena- The Distracted Domestic
• Melissa- Scrappy Jedi
• Emily- Oh! Emily Made That

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Each week on Campfire Chic, I share a little bit about what is going on behind the scenes on my side of the screen and a few links to what I think may interest Campfire Chic readers. This is called Essential Reading. Many of the links are from what I see online, quite a few are emailed to me by Alex, and a handful are submitted by readers, like you. Feel free to contact me if you have a link to something you think Campfire Chic readers would enjoy.

As for this week? I’m working on regaining balance in my life…I need more yoga, less junk food, more hours to get laundry done, and less guilt for not doing everything I think I can do. My deadlines aren’t working in my favor, I have too many ideas and too few non-cubicle hours to work on them, and yet I find myself sitting by a window and reading. So yeah, balance was the theme of this week.

This weekend is for stepping away from my phone, learning some new skills, soaking up some sun, and maybe even finishing another book. Or maybe I’ll just hide under the couch so I can’t see the pile of dirty dishes or the mound of laundry to be sorted. Who knows.

Here’s to you and your weekend. May your weekend be full of interesting news, bloggable moments, and new opportunities.

• Apparently there is a proper way to care for your sleeping bag
• I’m backing this amazing Kickstarter mainly because I’m a fan of the artist (via all the Cons we go to) and because I’ve agreed to have a comic/hero themed Kitchen/Dining area…and I’m not in the mood for kitsch
• Interested in podcasts about comic books?
• Elise’s use of slide protector sheets for her Day in the Life insert for Project Life has me re-thinking how I use my sheets
• Amy’s FOUND post from last week is FANTASTIC. I clicked, bookmarked, emailed, and re-read each one, she also shared a post with ideas for memory keeping
• 10 ways to spread blog love
• Could you step away from your routine for the day?
• Worried that going vegetarian may impact your protein intake? Check out these high-protein vegetarian foods and these non-soy vegan choices
• Have you been knocked down by a favorite hobby/pastime? Watch as elite climber Beth Rodden tackles the road to recovery
• How to immediately become a more productive (and better) writer

What are your plans for the weekend?

The post Essential Reading appeared first on Campfire Chic.

• Pinterest is still driving a TON of traffic to websites, shops, and blogs. Are you being pinned?
• Summer is the perfect time to take up a new-to-you hobby: Geocaching! 
• And all those photos you’re taking this summer? You’ll need a way to keep them organized and adorable…make your own daybook with some of the scraps you have around the house
• Maybe you’d rather work on an Instagram project this weekend? Make an easy Instagram grid or even make an Instagram collage for your phone
• I haven’t forgotten about Project Life, I promise. The last pages I shared were from Weeks 38 – 40 of the album documenting my 26th year…more to come!

If you find a broken link, feel free to let me know via email…let’s consider this crowdsourcing! Not all of the links carried over neatly from Blogger, and I haven’t been able to sit down and go through the 900+ blog posts to double-check them all. Help me out and let me know if you find a broken link. 

The post From the Archives appeared first on Campfire Chic.

 With summer starting in the Northern Hemisphere, I’m sure many Campfire Chic readers are starting to plan a handful of staycations, long weekends, and maybe even extended vacations away from home. But what about your blog? Will you let your blog sit untouched for a few weeks while you’re off, or do you hope to plan ahead so your readers won’t know you’re out of town until after you return? Today’s post focuses on a few tips on how to prepare your blog for a blog break, vacation, or an extended leave of absence.

Take it from somebody who has a few things on her plate and manages to have posts go up five days a week…planning ahead is essential if you feel like you want your blog to be “live” while you are away from your computer. Today’s tips can be used for a long weekend away from home or even as you prepare to for a hiatus from the blogging world (Think: a long backpacking trip or maternity leave)

Write everything down

Like what? First off, start with writing down when you plan to leave for your trip! At least that way you can actually see your deadline. Next: write down all the “stuff” you need to do before you leave…the guest posts you promised, the affiliate payments that are due, the newsletter you have tentatively planned, the blog posts you want to write…all of it! Get it down and take a step back…does everything need to be done? Can the blog re-design wait? Can you get an extension on that guest blog post? Take inventory and see what you can outsource…like, I’ll sometimes recruit Alex to help me get links for my Essential Reading posts! Don’t be afraid to ask for help, you may find it is exactly what you need.

Stockpile

Even if your trip isn’t for a few months from now, start stockpiling on blog posts now. Scary? Maybe. Starting now on a few drafts (or maybe even a few fully worked out posts!) will make the time leading up to your trick less stressful. Take a look at your current blogging schedule: are you posting three times a week? Aim to have enough posts ready to roll that you can even have a few go up during the days leading up to your departure as well as the few days upon your return. The last thing you want to worry about is whether or not you have a blog post scheduled when you are running through an airport terminal in a desperate attempt to catch your flight home.

Automate things

Another thing to start stockpiling? Social media updates! Now, some purists will scoff at the idea, but I don’t think there is anything wrong with planning a few tweets/updates to go up while you are out of town…what if badguys are watching your Twitter feed and notice that you went from 10 updates a day to 0 over a long weekend? Yeah, BADGUYS. So don’t let the badguys win and schedule some updates! I like to use Hootsuite to schedule updates for Twitter and Facebook since those are my most used social media platforms.

Pro tip: You can schedule updates for blog posts that haven’t gone up yet if you use the permalink to the post. That way, if you don’t have a plugin on your site that automatically sends out updates with new content! Another option? Set up an IFTTT channel to automatically send updates to different platforms. Automatically pushing the new content to your social media accounts will ease your mind and help to continue to drive traffic to your site while you are off enjoying yourself.

This seems a little overwhelming, I know. Especially the part about creating content in advance. For that, I’m going to (not-so-humbly) suggest picking up a copy of Three Sixty-Five: Ideas for Blog Posts, Scrapbook Pages, and Art Journal Entries. For $5, you get 365 blog post ideas, which should hold you over for a while, right? The best part of the eresource is that I set it up to act as a springboard for you to come up with even more ideas! Get started.

 Here are some additional resources:

• 5 Quick Tips for Preparing Your Online Shop for the Holidays
• More Tips for Preparing Your Online Shop for the Holidays
• My Blogging Calendar — How I plan ahead and get shit done
• How to Maintain Your Editorial Calendar
• Blog Wise: Become a Productive & Prolific Blogger ebook

How do you prepare your blog/shop for a vacation?

Do you have any other suggestions?

The post Prepare Your Blog for a Vacation or an Extended Leave of Absence appeared first on Campfire Chic.

The Northern Hemisphere is anxiously awaiting the arrival of Summer: longer days, inspiration, more sun-filled memories to be kept someplace, and maybe even having children home more often during the week. My idea? Let’s dedicate summer to not only making memories, but let’s also dedicate a few quiet hours to some meaningful memory keeping…and by a few, I mean, let’s make this speedy. ‘Cuz ain’t nobody got time for hours of laborious scrapbooking.

Summer Project: Speedy & Meaningful Memory Keeping

• Speed through a few partially-finished projects
• Learn some new skills
• Review and improve some phone photography

How can we do this? One of my favorite things about the internet is that I’ve been able to learn so much on a variety of subjects without needing to enroll in university classes. I just open up my laptop, pay some money to enroll in a class, and then I get to learn more about things like blogging, storytelling, setting goals, coding…the list goes on.

So let’s use the power of the interwebs to get our proverbial shit together and get some of our projects done and off our desks!

Not into scrapbooking? That’s cool, some of these classes/ebooks will appeal to bloggers, writers, crafters, and phoneography enthusiasts alike.

 The Phone Photography Project: Through the month of July, participate in photo challenges, get inspiration, get help improving your phoneography skills, and connect with others. With the help of 32 instructors, participants will get 32 days of dozens of tips and tricks from the pros for taking better photos with your mobile-phone camera, app reviews for iPhone and Android, dozens of project ideas, hundreds of fellow students in a private classroom and on Instagram, giveaways, contests, discounts, bonus downloads, and more.

Find out more about The Phone Photography Project.

Hello Story by Ali Edwards: This 12-week workshop is fantastic for those of you looking for creative storytelling techniques to share more of your words and more of yourself in your memory-keeping. Ali will share 12 storytelling techniques, exclusive layout templates, specific weekly topics, videos, and more during the workshop. As a big fan of Ali’s work, I can’t wait to sign up for this workshop and hope to see some of you participating, as well.

Find out more about Hello Story by Ali Edwards.

For those of you looking to get some pages done in a short amount of time, Fashionably Fast may be the ebook for you:

Join the speediest scrapbooker on the block, May Flaum, as she joins forces with five of the fastest (and most fabulous) scrapbookers she knows in Fashionably Fast: 10 strategies for stylish, speedy scrapbook pages. This popular instructor has compiled her 10 best time-saving strategies, which are illustrated by 20 gorgeous scrapbook pages and accompanied with 30 minutes of exclusive video instruction! See how easy it can be to accelerate your scrapbooking process without sacrificing artistry.

Buy your copy of Fashionably Fast: 10 strategies for stylish, speedy scrapbook pages by May Flaum for only $9.99 here.

FOLD IT IN by Kristin of rukrisitn papercrafts: I wrote about my involvement in the Fold It In workshop recently, and I’m still excited about it…I mean, I was seriously able to make a mini-album in no time at all and I already have ideas for other albums/cards/gifts using this workshop. This workshop also includes access to a private Facebook group so you can share your creations with others, get more inspiration for your own albums, and to make new crafty friends.

Buy your copy of the Fold It In self-paced accordion mini-album workshop for only $12.

Reasons to join these types of classes if you’ve never done it before

• Meet others with similar interests
• Inspiration
• Motiviation – I paid for this, I better finish it
• Attention from the instructor
• A community
• Being a part of something

What projects are you planning on working on this summer?

This post contains affiliate links to Big Picture Classes and RUKristin Papercrafts. Purchases made through these links support Campfire Chic. View the Disclosure Policy and Privacy Policy for more information. 

The post Summer Project: Speedy & Meaningful Memory Keeping appeared first on Campfire Chic.

After doing my second The Color Run on Saturday and seeing how many people around me weren’t sure what exactly what to expect, I thought it would be helpful to post a few tips for doing your first color run.

What do I keep saying “doing” instead of “running”? I’m going to be straight with you: there are more walkers than runners at these kinds of events, and that’s perfectly OK! You don’t need to do any sort of hardcore training, but be sure that you are able to comfortably walk three miles before race day.

Get excited

Dear crabbypants of the world: do not sign up for a fun run like this if you are not in the mood to deal with people, loud music, strangers throwing things at you, crowds, more loud music, dancing, or general shenanigans. Just don’t. This is a FUN event, you’ll find people running around greeting friends, see people dressed up in all sorts of crazy colors, and maybe even find yourself dancing at the finish line. Get into the mood, step into character, get excited.

Cover your camera/phone

Here’s a good question, “how do you get the color on you?” The answer: Volunteers throw colored corn starch (according to the Color Run website, it says that the 100% food grade corn starch is safe) at you as you run through each kilometer station. It doesn’t hurt…unless you fall and some rouge friend of yours tramples you…and you are given at least one packet of “color” in your registration packet so you can always apply it yourself.

Now, there is this colored dust/stuff being thrown at you…is it safe for your camera or phone? I’m going to give you a bit of a hint: if you’re not willing to buy a waterproof disposable camera, I’m going to suggest putting your phone/camera in a Ziploc-type bag and making sure it is closed. I did that for The Color Run last year and the photos turned out fine. This time around, I used my Lifeproof case and it worked perfectly! No damage to my phone from the dust flying in the air

Bring baby wipes and tissues

…and a beach towel for your car when you’re done. Here’s the thing…this is a messy run. It’s not going to be pretty when you’re done and you walk back to your car…so let’s think of this time as Color Run Tailgating! To prepare for the return to the real world, be sure to pack some baby wipes (get a bunch from the travel section of Target or splurge a bit and get the bigger back from the baby section), a box of tissues, and a beach towel or large sheet.

The first thing you’re going to want to do is cover your car seats before you even start the race. Yes, you’re excited (see tip #1) but a little bit of preparation now is going to be totally worth it. Use beach towels or large sheets to cover your seats.

When you get back to your car is blow your nose. Expect “unicorn boogers” because you’re going to see all sorts of color on your tissues when you’re done. Keep blowing.

Next: use the baby wipes…and check under your shirt…and if you’re changing shoes, check under your socks. Yeah, the color gets everywhere. Keep wiping.

Other than that, have fun! Take lots of photos, maybe even some video, and make it an event to remember.

You can find out if The Color Run is coming to a city near year on their website and read about my previous experience in this post.

Have you done a Color Run?

What advice would you give to first time “fun runners”?

This post contains affiliate links to Amazon.com. I (Kam) am an Amazon Affiliate and may receive compensation for purchases made through links to Amazon.com on this site. Shopping through these links supports Campfire Chic, so feel free to start shopping. For more information, please refer to the disclosure policy and privacy policy for this site.

The post 3 Tips for Your First Color Run appeared first on Campfire Chic.

I’ve been thinking about “priorities” a lot lately…I’m thinking that it’s going to be a big topic in the upcoming months…do you ever think about what you say is a high priority in your life and what your actions show are priorities? Think about it…let’s chat about it when you’re done.

This week’s Essential Reading:

• You may have seen this already, but it’s still pretty funny: 7 signs you might be a professional blogger
• Speaking of blogging, here are 40 ways to get your blog off to the right start
• I find that I’m not motivated to finish things that I don’t find interesting/challenging, so I’m happy I found this post on how to finish those types of crappy things
• Need something new to do for date night? Why not camp in your living room?
• This might be aimed at men, but the Art of Manliness shared some tips on making friends in a new city
• Do you use Photoshop? I found some freebie downloads you may find interesting…I’m a sucker for arrows
• Feel like you’re wasting time that you could/should be doing something more productive? Try the Pomodoro Method — I give a quick breakdown of the productivity method in this post and suggest some practical ways to implement it
• Feeling overwhelmed by blogging? Here are 6 practical tips to deal with blogging overwhelm (but can you ever be whelmed?)
• Despite this warm weather, I think I’m going to whip up some of my favorite (and SUPER EASY) vegetarian chili this weekend

The post Essential Reading appeared first on Campfire Chic.