Blogging conference season is upon us. Although does the season ever end? I am so excited to be heading back to Blissdom this year (p.s. I would love to know that you are going so we can connect. I am a Community Leader for the Parenting Tribe. WOOT!).

One thing that is a MUST for conferences is business cards. And it something a lot of newbies forget. But people hand them out like candy and many companies in the exhibition hall will have giveaways that are easy to enter by throwing a card in the jar. They are definitely a key way to make a good first impression.

But, after using the same business cards for the last several conferences I am ready for something new. Now that I have a new blog, I want my business card to highlight both blogs and be more focused on ME than my blogs. That way when all the book deals, speaking engagements and endorsement deals come, they know I am more than just a blogger. ahem.

So I headed to my go to resource for ideas of where to get good business cards. Twitter. I got a few ideas and headed over to the various websites to check out what each offered. One stood out from the rest. Yet again, it was Tiny Prints.

You may recall back at Christmas time that I sang the praises of Tiny Prints and used them for our family Christmas cards. I absolutely loved the way they turned out. So I knew if I used them for business cards they would be of the highest quality. Now to narrow it down.

I toyed around with using something that had my picture on it so people would remember me better. But then I remembered that I universally hate all pictures of me. I also didn’t really want to use one with a logo since I wanted to highlight two separate blogs. So I just wanted to find something that was just me. I think I found it.

Whatcha think? Do you love them? Cause I think I love them. They have a TON to offer so browse around and see if one fits you!!

Will I be seeing you at Blissdom? What conferences are you going to this year? What one thing do you NOT forget for blogging conferences?

Tiny Prints provided me with some business cards in exchange for this review. As always all opinions are mine.

What are you loving this week? Come play along with Things I Love Thursday. All the guidelines are here if you are new, but is is super easy! And don’t forget to go spread comment love to fellow participants and to use the #TILT hashtag if you tweet so we can retweet each other. Thanks for participating!

  Wait, I hear you. You don’t have a Mercantile Bank where you live. That is ok, because I have a greater point to this post.

We had been with our previous bank for like 10 years. And there wasn’t anything necessarily wrong with them per se. But there really wasn’t anything right with them either. I mean they were a huge corporate bank based somewhere far away who fee’d us to death so that kind of stunk. But when things were going well, it wasn’t something I really thought about. But when things went wrong. UGH. Pain in my behind!!

A year ago I was part of a banking focus group and there were all these people raving about their bank. I didn’t even know it was POSSIBLE to rave about a bank. So at that point I came home and told the hubby we were switching. But then I realized what a giant pain it was to switch banks. And we dragged our feet.

But 2012 is our year. We switched end of December and it was the BEST decision. I never knew it was possible to rave about a bank but I am RAVING. The personal service astounds me. They have called no less than five times to make sure things are going well and to help us get set up with everything online. So impressed.

In case you ARE local let me tell you a few quick reasons why I love them:

• Mobile Deposit: I can scan or take mobile pics of my checks and they are deposited. I don’t even have to go to the bank. Perfection.
• No ATM fees: They know that they don’t have many branches. So they refund any fees you get from using other people’s ATMs. Seriously. Love.
• Interest bearing checking: Yep. I get interest. In my checking account.

If you AREN’T local, can I just encourage you to bank local? And shop local. And eat from locally sourced restaurants. It truly makes a difference. Local is the new black.

What are you loving this week? Write about it, link up here, and make sure to spread the word about Things I Love Thursday through your favorite social media platform. Here are all the TILT guidelines.

  I am growing three readers. Serious readers. Kids who rarely can be seen without a book under their nose. We are also library regulars (so much so that I am only days away from becoming the mayor. WOOT!) and have amassed quite the library at home.

So when a friend of a friend contacted me about reviewing her new children’s book, my ears perked up. Even more so when I saw the topic. So let me digress a minute.

I have to girls. I worry about their friendships a lot. A LOT. I am constantly raising concerns to Ryan about I am afraid they are getting left out, not making close friends, sad about how other girls treat them, the list goes on. Ryan usually looks at me like I am a bit of my rocker and says, “Jill, you are projecting, our girls are doing really well.”

I am beginning to think he is right. I stink at girl friendships. I have been burned several times and now live my life quite guarded when it comes to friends. If you knew me you might say I have a lot of friends because I am quite social and have a pretty active social life. But scratch the surface a little and you will see that I keep most people at arms length. It is something I really want to work on, but truth be told, I am wary. But also a little lonely. So that is my little therapy session.

One of the things I always found hard in my friendships growing up was the friendships of three. Did you have those? They are kind of the worst. You feel like you have a bestie but then this other person appears and suddenly THEY are besties and you are just the leftover friend. Someone is always feeling hurt and left out.

Well, what if you could teach your kids a way to navigate the waters of “three’s a crowd” and keep their friendships in tact? Pink Tiara Cookies For Three is a resource for parents to help their kids do exactly that. And I have to admit, I might have learned a thing or two myself.

Perfect for little girls, Pink Tiara Cookies For Three, is totally relatable and adorably illustrated. It reminded me a lot of another MAJOR favorite in our house, Pinkalicious. I think your little girls will love this book and it will lead to some great dialogue in your house.

Maria Dismondy is a mom herself and is passionate about using books to teach kids to do the right thing whether the topic is bullying, difficulties with friendships or respecting those that are different. Her blog tour is going on through the end of the month and you can find out all about it, over at her blog.

You can get a copy of the book at the author’s site and she will autograph it for you. Or you can win one from me along with an adorable tiara cookie cutter so you can make cookies just like the book!! To enter, simply leave a comment on this post. Maybe about your great female friends. Or lack of. It will be like therapy.

For extra entries (please leave a SEPARATE comment for each entry:

• Participate by linking up to Things I Love Thursday and leave a comment letting me know you linked up
• Tweet about the giveaway (sample tweet: Enter to win @mariadismondy ‘s new children’s book over at The @DiaperDiaries: http://tinyurl.com/84byepl)

The winner will be chosen at random on Thurs. Jan. 25th. Best of luck!

So what do you love this week? Write about it and then link up below. Just a reminder to please make sure you are linking to your actual TILT post and not just your blog. All of the other Things I Love Thursday guidelines are here. Link away!