Get Up And Move

The other day I was kind of sad because I went to my Weight Watchers meeting and realized that I have gained about 8 lbs since Halloween – and there are more holidays to come! So I was on Twitter, tweeting about my lack of motivation and a friend of my introduced me to the Get Up And Move Program. Needless to say I was thrilled! The best thing about this program – you don’t need to be a work-out fanatic to join! It is designed for people like me – that don’t like exercising and need some extra motivation to get them going.

So with the holidays upon us, I thought I would share the program with all of you too – as a new mom it can especially difficult to get out and get moving. With the Get Up And Move Program – we can encourage each other. This program is actually a Twitter App designed by @jensmccabe. It is simple – yet ingenious. You just challenge someone to do some form of exercise in exchange for doing something yourself. Everything is communicated by direct message on Twitter, so it is private and you only share it with your friends if you want to.

The only downside is that you do need partners to challenge and to have send challenges to you. So – if you are looking to start moving more this holiday season, sign up for Twitter, read about the Get Up And Move Program and then Register. I’m @MommyNews on twitter – so feel free to challenge me to some exercise. I don’t run – but other than that – I am game for anything you send my way. If you’d like me to challenge you – just leave a comment with your twitter ID and I’d be happy to send some motivation your way too!

Here’s to keeping the weight gain down and the exercise up this holiday and beyond!! Challenge away!

Our First TasteCasting Event in Pittsburgh

You might look at the title of this article and wonder how this relates to you….well, let me introduce you to TasteCasting. TasteCasting is a great new networking event that is popping up all over the country. People who are socially connected (bloggers, people active on twitter, facebook, linkedin, etc) get together and visit local restaurants. While they are there they get a selection of fantastic food and they tell the world about it. This benefits the person attending the event because they get to network with other local socially connected people, they get a fantasic meal and a night out and they get all kinds of traffic back to their blog via links and track-backs. It benefits the local restaurants because they get a bunch of well-connected people going out and telling the world how fantastic their restaurant is, hence bringing in more business.

How does this affect you? Are you a mom? This is a great way to network with other local moms! Do you have a blog? Do you tweet? Do you facebook?? If so, this is a great way for you to get a night out, meet other great folks and then tell all of your friends and followers about it. It is the perfect type of event for a mom to do since most of the events occur in the evenings when your significant other or the local highschool babysitters are available to watch the kids. And lots of moms run their own businesses or blogs – so it is a great way for you to network and promote your own interests while simultaneously helping out other local businesses in your area!

Well, a few nights ago, I attended the first ever TasteCasting Event in Pittsburgh! It was at a fantastic restaurant called the Melange BistroBar located in downtown Pittsburgh.

The atmostphere was spectacular. I can’t even imagine all of the work that goes into planning a restaurant. This particular restaurant opened just a few months ago – and the decor is wonderful! There are large time-life photos all over the walls which are back-lit in luxurious wooden frames. And the food….oh my the food! It was fantastic! Everything we ate (crab cakes, duck, chicken, lamb, shrimp, beet chips) was scrumptious! My personal favorite was the Duck! If you are ever looking for a great night out in Pittsburgh, the Melange Bistrobar would be on my list of recommendations! Be sure to stop by when you are in town!

Have you participated in any TasteCasting events in your hometown? Is there a group there yet? Be sure to check the TasteCasting website to find out. And if there isn’t one, you can be the one to start one up!!