The Blogging Rules I Break: As Told By Schitt's Creek Gifs

As a kid, I was a rule follower.  As a blogger?  Nothing but a rule breaker.

My little corner of the internet has been going for 10 years now.  While the idea of blogging has evolved over the years, there are some evergreen blog rules that I break. And because I am not done obsessing over Schitt's Creek...the blog rules each have a Schitt's Creek gif to go with them. Because why not?

Rule 1: Choose a blog name related to what you write about.

Heh heh. "Zucchini Summer"  

Rule 2: Use your name

"TheBargainBabe". 

What a stupid name. You shouldn't say it to me because that would be rude and socially awkward but I can say it about myself.
I chose it back when dinosaurs roamed the earth and I was super focused on finding good deals. Bargains. I like alliteration and am a female. Hence "babe".  

I don't want to use my real name because I'm not tryin' to end up on an episode of Dateline. Thankyouverymuch.

Rule 3: Have a niche.

One major blog rule is to brand yourself as the expert in something fairly specific. Some bloggers specialize in all things travel. Others focus solely on books/reading. Yet other bloggers have found their niche in the world of creating beautiful spaces in their homes.

Then there's me. Zucchini Summer Blog written by The Bargain Babe. Do I write only about bargains or zucchinis or summers?

This blog's "niche" is "some of everything". Some posts are about favorite books. One month you might find a more serious toned post about special education. Some posts slant to social justice.  There's even one or two recipes around here.  

Rule 4: Use a photo of yourself.

Articles with blogging tips abound with the same advice to make yourself real to your reader. Use a photo of yourself in your profile. Even better if you have photos of yourself making your recipe or visiting Greece (assuming cooking or travel is your niche blog topic. See #3 above.).

This blog rule is tempting to follow. A few readers know me in real life. (*waves hello*), but most of you don't. I'd love to pop on here with a selfie so you can see the blog-rule-breaking-face behind the scenes. I post photos sometimes, of my dog, of some decor, etc...but never any of the human faces around here. It's a layer of privacy for my family. Besides, if you all knew I was an exact look-a-like for Salma Hayek, you might get jealous.*

*Def Salma Hayek and not me.

Keeping my face off the 'net gives some privacy.

Rule 5: Use Wordpress or self-host your blog

These days most people have gotten away from the blogger platform and gone to Wordpress or buying their own domain.  Yours truly however is still here hanging with the blogger/blogspot home.  I don't want to have to try to figure out how to change it all over myself.  And don't want to pay a hosting service or pay to have it migrated.  

While it is true that different hosts may offer different/better options for blogging, I'm just hitting the easy button and staying put for now.

Are there any blogging rules that you also break?  

I can't be the only one out here not showing my face, still hanging at Blogspot, and with a wide "niche", can I?

Out with the old...

...in with the new!

If you've been here long, you know this blog's design hasn't really been updated in years!  I started this 9 years ago and it was the cloud background for a long time.  The old header featured a photo that I took of bright chairs in Buffalo, NY.  My old header font was bright purple.  Cute, but it's been years and my tastes have changed.

We're quarantined right now and stuck at home, like the entire rest of the world, due to the Coronavirus pandemic.  So I have some extra time on my hands. Nevermind the fact that I should have put away laundry or reorganized the pantry.  No sireee. I decided that 10pm on a Friday night was the right time to update the colors of my blog. ha!

Old:

New:

I used Canva (free!) to redesign the header and even the logo for Facebook.  

Pinterest got a little lift too. 

This counts as productivity while quarantined, right?  Right??

3 things I love about Swagbucks

Swagbucks is a website that you can join for free.  You go to their site, answer a daily poll, do a couple web searches, etc.

In doing so, you earn what are called "Swagbucks" that can then be redeemed for things.  I save my swagbucks and always get Amazon gift cards.  

Do you hear me?  A free gift card to Amazon! 

This week I'm cashing in my swagbucks for another $5 gift card to Amazon.  FREE IS GOOD.

Why do I love swagbucks?  Here are the top 3 reasons:

1. Swagbucks is easy to use.  I've joined other things before that required you spend $ before getting a percent back (ebates), or that had horribly hard to use sites.  If *I*, who has ran into other people's mailboxes and spent months thinking captcha was turned off for commenting, can master the swagbucks website, anyone can. 

what swagbucks look like on your screen

2. They have games.  I know, I know, your all still obsessed with Farmville or Candy Crush.  BUT, playing games on the swagbucks site has actually earned me swagbucks, so its like getting PAID to sit there and play a game.  That's how I justify "just 2 more minutes" in my mind. 

one of my favorite Swagbucks Games

3. Free. Stuff.  I mean, being easy to use and having games is one thing, but I wouldn't do it if there wasn't something in it for me.  I've heard of some people (Money Saving Mom maybe?) that bank their amazon gift cards and use it towards purchasing Christmas presents for their family members.  

  Use the $5 to splurge on a book for yourself, save up a few of the gift cards and buy something for a charity, there are lots of ways to use your free amazon gift cards from swagbucks!

*amazon is not the only gift card option. There are lots of other stores that you can get gift cards from, or you can choose the PayPal option.

If you want to go to swagbucks, you can join through my referral link right here. I get no cash for you joining, but I do earn some swagbucks.

Bye Bye Google Friend Connect

Poop, darn, and dang.

Why mess with a perfectly good thing?  I don't know. But the people at Google have decided to shake up how you and I can follow blogs.  Google Friend Connect, which many of you use, is going away.  I know, right?!  I love GFC.  It's how I read all of my favorite blogs.

So we've gotta find something new.

There are a couple ways you can still keep up with posts here at Zucchini Summer (I mean who wants to miss out on a Friday Funnies?  Or the 25cent yard sale picture frame redo I have coming up?):

-Email
You can follow by email----look to the left where it says "follow by email" and enter your email address.
It's that easy!  All it does is email you when a new post is up. I don't have access to your email address and won't be sending spammy emails. Only new posts get sent.

-BlogLovin'
This is new to me.  Because I live under a rock.  Evidently this is kind of the NEW go-to thing for following blogs. I joined.  It imports your reading list from GFC so you won't lose any subscriptions.  If you join BlogLovin' and import, you'll still be able to read here and won't miss a thing!


-Facebook
You can like Zucchini Summer on facebook because of course I will link to new posts.  And the benefit to liking on facebook means you also get to see little gems like this pop up:

-Feed Burner

To the right is the little buttons where you can follow me on pinterest, etc. The orange one is for feeds, click that and you can choose how you want to read Zucchini Summer (yahoo, pageflakes, and more are choices).


*Thanks to Serenity Now for keeping me updated and for the new ways to follow!*

Pinterest Party--get more exposure bloggers!

Just a quick FYI, my buddy over at Tutus and Teaparties is hosting a linky party. You link up your blog and then people PIN it for you on pinterest!

Come join us, and spread the word. :)

The Oldest Kid in the Class

Is me.

Probably.

I'm going back to school. My husband finally finished school in 09, we then had our next 2 kids in 2 years, and now it is my turn to finish a degree (or two).

It will be me in classes with a bunch of young whippersnappers who never even knew the joy of this:

from pinterest (where else?!)

Punky Brewster! As a kid, I insisted on mismatching my socks sometimes so I could be like her. Mom occasionally let me mismatch shoes too when we were going somewhere. She's a cool mom.

I digress.

Because of my classes, I'm going to have to actually spend time, you know, studying. So no more weeks with 4 days of blogging. I'm cutting down to Tuesdays and Thursdays.

It will still be FUN.

You can count on an array of funnies, crafts, home decor projects, my misadventures in quilting, and teaching/home school ideas.

Wish me luck, if all goes as planned, this will be in my near future:

source