Designing an attractive, easy to navigate website seems like it would be pretty straight-forward - but it is extremely difficult. Even if when I think I’ve done everything right, I am often shocked at how people actually navigate my sites.

I’ve read some great website design books, but I’ve also found that there are a vast number of resources on the web to help you create a site that really reaches out to your customers. Click on the binder below to see my collection of website design resources:

It’s that time of year when you are realizing that school is about to end and you haven’t planned out the summer yet.  If any of you have kids interested in soccer, this binder has a list of soccer camps put together by a bunch of moms.  They’re in the San Francisco bay area and one of them even has a drop-in clinic.

Open the binder by clicking on the link or icon below and click through the tabs to see the different web pages.

Happy summer!

Don’t you secretly think that you have this deep, hidden-away talent and that (if given just the right circumstances) you would shine like the brightest star in the universe? Ok, I admit it, I do! I imagine that I start singing and it brings tears to people’s eyes.

Well actually, my singing does bring tears to people’s eyes, because that is what normally happens to people when they are screaming with shear terror. But here are a few people who are the real thing. Click on the binder below, sit back, and enjoy!

I never cease to be amazed at the depth of information you can find on the Internet - like these sites on Guadalcanal. I used to love to sit an listen to my dad’s stories about Guadalcanal. Imagine being dropped off on an island that is swarming with enemy troupes and nasty insects. My father was a scout for the Marines in those days and it was his job to drop behind enemy lines to assess the potential firepower and what may lay ahead for the troupes.

I haven’t heard any of my father’s stories in 15 years, but these incredible websites brought it all back. I put them all in a binder to share with my family - many of whom are also in the military. Click on the binder below to open up a fascinating page in history:

Anyone who is familiar with this term is probably or has probably researched this topic extensively.  Medulloplastoma is a type of brain cancer common among children.   You might want to take a look at this binder full of links on information about this type of cancer.  

Links are organized by tabs - to open click on the link or binder icon below and browse through the tabs to view the web resources.

I’m a wannabe chef. Any chance at all to cook - I’m there. I’m cooking for ‘Art Day’ at school this weekend. I cook for our annual school fund raising dinner every year (dinner for 150 or so). I signed up to cook for the end of year softball party. I love food! I also love the internet because millions of recipes and thousands of cooking techniques are at my finger tips.

The only problem is, how do you corral all those fabulous recipes and great techniques? For years, I printed everything out and put it in a three ring binder - but no more! Now I use LiveBinders to easily categorize the recipes that I like. Check out some of my cooking binders below. But you will need to come back, because I’m building more all the time. I have also collected some insightful videos on using knives in the kitchen, so be sure to click on my knife binder below:

If any of you live in the San Francisco Bay Area - you might want to check out these news stories concerning the Light Brown Apple Moth Pesticide spraying that will occur in the Bay Area this summer. Somehow it has gone unnoticed by the community until recently and it is causing an uproar by local residents concerned for their health. This includes a group of mothers who are lobbying to change the spraying, but it might be impossible to do at this late notice.

If you click on the binder link below - it has the latest articles, and websites that can help you find out more information on what to protect yourself if you are stuck in the area during the aerial spraying. Everything is organized by tabs and sub-tabs just click on them to view the websites.

Our kids received a great gift a couple of years ago - instead of the usual gift card or plastic toy - our daughters were given an orphaned elephant named Makena. Makena lives on the David Sheldrick Wild Life Reserve in Kenya, Africa. The foster donation lasts for a year and you receive monthly reports about the reserve, any new additions to the reservation and the monthly goings on concerning the elephant, or rhino you are fostering. They send you pictures from the website and a digital image of a water color of the animal you are fostering. I believe the water colors are painted by David Sheldrick’s daughter.

The stories are charming - some heart breaking - and your donations make you feel like you can make the world just a little bit better. It’s also great to engage your children - my kids would love to visit the reserve!

Take a look at the website in the binder below - I’ve included some of their photos, the monthly reports since 2007 and also some interesting stories regarding the rescue of a rhino and some recent baby elephants.

To open click on the link below!

Enjoy!

It was a beautiful evening picnic in the hills overlooking the bay and city of San Francisco. Good friends, good wine and, little did I know, poison oak. Two days later I woke up in the middle of the night thinking I had a mosquito bite. But I when I turned the lights on and looked at my leg my heart sunk. I clearly didn’t catch it early, so I was going to be in for some painful itching.

I’ve had poison oak so many times that I keep a bottle of Technu soap in my shower (a true live-saver). But I was amazed at what I didn’t know about this nasty plant and its insidious urushiol oil. I had always thought that scratching spread the stuff. I also thought that the oil “got in your system” and popped out in other spots. None of this is true! Click on the binder below to get the real story about poison oak from sources such as the FDA and the American Academy of Dermatology.

My mother has been a real estate broker for almost 40 years, so I know a thing or two about real estate cycles. What I don’t understand is why is everyone panicking? The real estate market is cyclical - it goes up and it goes down.

The only interesting question is - is this the bottom?

I have some friends that are making an offer on a house tomorrow. I personally think it is a little early, but if they are planning to hold the property for five years or more, they will be fine.

What I really love about the real estate market is the types of tools that are now available on-line. Real estate investment used to be a lot more like guess work, but these sites really help. Take a look at my binder below and let me know if there are any great real estate sites that I am missing: