After responding to all of the sweet, awesome, and thoughtful messages my friends left for me on Facebook last year, I had this wild idea – what if you woke up on your birthday, logged onto Facebook, and no one left any birthday messages for you?

That would be the worst birthday ever, right?

As I learned from my parents when I was younger, if you have a bad dream, tell someone about it so that it won’t come true.

Thank you to my amazing husband, John Kimball, who drew this comic and helped me bring this concept to life.

P. S. Today is my birthday.

I was born and raised in the Seattle-area (read: suburbs) to parents who migrated West from the great cornfields of Iowa (or something romantic like that). I spent many summers crossing the Western United States on various pilgrimages to-and-from Grandparents houses and I can name all fifty states in alphabetical order and lay them out on a map from memory.

I spent my college years studying hipsterdom first-hand in the great city of Portland, Oregon, but made the journey back “home” to Seattle upon graduation.

I am – and always will be – a native Seattleite.

But as another Seattleite pointed out to me this past weekend – we are “rare.”

So today on Twitter I jokingly asked  –

How long must one be a resident to become a “Seattleite”? – asks the native Seattleite

— Laura Kimball (@lamiki) March 27, 2012

Because, in all honestly, I don’t know where being a “Seattlelite” starts and ends if you’re (gasp!) imported. And got the following responses –

@lamiki I always say 10 years. #native #seattle #seattleite

— Keridwyn Deller (@keridwyn) March 27, 2012

@lamiki Isn’t it a state of mind more than a length of time?

— kalen (@kalenski) March 27, 2012

@lamiki I considered myself a Seattleite after a year. Something about that city just clicked. Took much longer to call myself a New Yorker!

— kat selvocki (@shinyredtype) March 27, 2012

@lamiki 1 day

— Ken (@kenfucious) March 27, 2012

@lamiki well it takes nearly 20 years to be local in Colorado:) Everyone else is just passing through

— Kendall Ruth (@iamkendal) March 27, 2012

@lamiki When they can walk by the Space Needle without taking a photo of it.

— David Hoang (@davidhoang) March 28, 2012

My question to you  – when do you officially become a local?

Photo Credit: Laura Kimball (me!)

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and made it to the nice list

Much love,
Laura, John, and Strong Santa

Original artwork illustrated by John Kimball

Hi, my name is Laura and I have not blogged in three four days. And last night I composed this blog while sitting next to my mom – who doesn’t read my blog and completely missed NaBloPoMo this year – on the couch at my sister’s house in New Jersey, and there’s a baby coo-ing, laughing, and desperately needs his awesome auntie to play with him. Today, Sunday, is my nephew’s first birthday. Last year I spent the last half of NaBloPoMo writing blog posts on my sister’s couch while we waited for my nephew to arrive, and it’s kind of surreal that now, a year later, we’re here and our family has this amazing, gorgeous baby boy in our life. Wow.

So before I get back to some much needed and awesome family time, here are some informative and fun stuff that’s been floating around the Internet this week.

Four Blog posts about Facebook Trends, Millennials, Failing, and Whining

Some Observations About 2011′s Most Shared Articles On Facebook by Tac Anderson on NewCommBiz

Read this because: You’re dying to know which celebrity or famous cat dominated conversations on Facebook this past year.

Spoiler Alert: It’s neither, but you’ll feel better about visiting this website every single day.

Understanding What It Means to Be a Millennial by Mike Krass

Read this because: You can’t get enough of the conversation about how the millennials are all hipsters who dream of entrepreneurship. Mike does a great job of taking the conversation one-step further and throwing the responsibility back on us – now that we want to be entrepreneurial, what steps are we doing to make that happen?

When Death Feels Like A Good Option by Ben Huh

Read this because: The best way to learn about success is through failure, and, as Ben Huh, the founder and CEO of Cheezburger Network, says, “Failure is an option, and a real risk. Failure and risk something entrepreneurs understand well, and learn to manage. However, death isn’t an option, it’s an inevitability. And before I die, I want to take as many swings at the fence as I can.”

Great advice for entrepreneurs, pre-entrepreneurs, and anyone.

Startups Are Hard. So Work More, Cry Less, And Quit All The Whining by Michael Arrington on Uncrunched

Read this because: We all like to whine and be that person at the party who stayed up until dawn working on a great project, hasn’t taken a vacation in three years, and is working too much – but all while doing something we’re passionate about, something that’s great. Whining is a ‘badge of honor’ in some circles and we need to get over ourselves and just stop.

Bonus: This reality check may make you shut up and become a better person.

And Two More for Fun

Clothes for your nerd boyfriend – Because you want the man in your life to look like the men who shaped modern hipsterism – like Jim Henson, Gene Kelly, the crew from Spinal Tap, Frasier Crane, Bob Marley, and Mathew Broderick.

The 25 Funniest Autocorrects OF DYAC’s First Year – In case you haven’t seen this already.

Just shared this with my parents. My dad said, “I’m so glad I don’t have an iPhone.” And my mom said, “That’s good. Will you send that to me?”

Consider these two things my gift to you.

Photo Credit: jencu

P.S. The cute kid reading the paper isn’t my nephew.

I have a half hour to get this post written and live on my blog before heading out to celebrate Saturday night. And while on one hand I’m excited to write a two or three-part blog series about a certain topic (and I really, really want to start mapping it out), there’s no way that I can write even the first part in the next 29 minutes.

So I opened up my content calendar for this month, looking for ideas, and it’s becoming very clear that I have five more posts to write until I reach the finish line of National Blog Posting Month.

But I have so many more amazing, awesome blog posts to write before November 30th that even writing a ‘cheap shot’ of a blog today seems like a waste.

28 minutes.

Shit.

[10 minutes later]

Yeah, I don’t have anything, so here’s the official trainer for The Muppets movie. John and I saw it on Wednesday and we’re about to go see it, again. Seriously, I’ve never laughed so hard at a movie in my life.

If you’re a 20-something who grew up with watching Sesame Street, idolizing Jim Henson, and thought at some point that the Muppets (and every Disney character) was real, you should go see this movie. If you like underdog stories, making dreams happen, and the Muppets, you should see this movie.

I haven’t found a really good way to describe it, but imagine if you could go up to the fictional characters you idolized as a kid and actually talk to them and ask them questions about the things they did and how awesome that would be – that’s this movie. It’s a modern interpretation of our history of growing up in the 80s and 90s (read this blog post by Jessica Malnik: 21 Signs You Grew Up in the 90s, and you’ll know what I’m trying to say).

Apparently I missed the memo that Thanksgiving weekend is National Unplug and Spend Time with Your Family weekend (as reported by multiple bloggers). I’ve written about unplugging before, and it’s definitely something that we all need in this day of electronic calendars, push notifications, and Siri, is that we need people to tell us to unplug.

Well, here’s me, the girl who will be offline and online over the next five days due to her commitment to blogging once a day saying, don’t.

Don’t unplug. Don’t get offline. Don’t respect your friends and family that you only see once a year for the holidays by abandoning Facebook, Twitter, and (gasp!) Google+.

Be that annoying grandkid who texts throughout dinner. Channel that angst that you got over when you graduated from high school and sulk. Check in, obnoxiously, from your mother’s kitchen, the kiddie table, and your grandmother’s punch bowl. Claim the mayorship of Second Thanksgiving. And – for the love of the Internet – tweet.

And when you’re done with your third helping of mashed potatoes and have reached the point of no return after your second dose of pie, poke someone on Facebook.

Now go get that turkey coma on.

Happy Thanksgiving!

P.S. Since you’re online, here’s some Thanksgiving fin from The Oatmeal: Thanksgiving as a kid VS Thanksgiving as an adult. Enjoy ☺

Photo Credit: Pam’s Pics-

Since personal branding was the hot topic yesterday and flowcharts simplify the decision-making process for everyone and are always a ton of fun, I want to share with you this flowchart that has been floating around the Internet for awhile.

So here’s a handy reference tool so you never have to answer what status to post on which social network and why.

You’re welcome

This flowchart was created by Daryl Lang of Breaking Copy.

Ira Glass said this at some point and since I’m writing about writing a lot lately, it’s too relevant not to be shared.

Random fact: Did you know that I met and worked with Ira Glass during year two of Wordstock? Yep, I’m just that good.

In other bits of trivia – Scott Berkun wrote a response to my blog post from last week, 500 Words or Less, which was actually inspired by him. (Is your head spinning yet?) And in this post, he explains the difference between an essay and a blog…sort of.

You should read it.

New development: Did you know that lamiki.com is on Facebook?  You should like me over there, because we all know that you can’t get enough lamiki in your life.

Come on, toss a girl a like.

Oh, and I have big news to share tomorrow. Really, really BIG news.

But you’ll have to wait. ☺

For now, rock the rest of your Thursday.

Around this time last year, I was obsessed with a little viral video that was recorded on iPhones on a subway in NYC. This year, I’m obsessed with a song that my cousin introduced me to over the summer by breaking out in a dance while I played the song via YouTube on my Grandma’s farm in nowhere Iowa.

Want to know the best part? I had no idea that this song and that dance was created to save the singers from the Zombie Apocalypse until this weekend. This song and that dance is definitely one that we should all learn, for our own safety and that of our loved ones.

So, because I love each and every one of you in a non-creepy, deeply platonic way, I’d like to bestow on you the gift of shufflin’ so you may survive the apocalypse as well.

‪How To – Shuffle Routine in Party Rock Anthem Music Video (Part 1)‬

‪How To – Shuffle Routine in Party Rock Anthem Music Video (Part 2)‬

Phew, now we’re all safe.

Last night I cheated, twice. This first was by not posting a blog when I’m participating in National Blog Posting Month (and at this time I’m trying to figure out if I’m going to back-date this post or just make up for it later). The second was I ate non-paleo food and drinks.

But I have a good reason why – John and I spent the evening at a friends house helping them choose their signature cocktail for their wedding this spring.

And while I could have chosen a paleo-friendly drink recipe, what good would my taste buds have been if I didn’t taste all the other cocktails and vote for my favorite? And then, what kind of friend would I have been?

That’s right, I cheated last night because I was being a good friend. And when we came home past the stroke of midnight, I was in no place to be blogging.

Mojito Mixology

Earlier this year, I decided to make homemade mojitos for the annual BBQ we host for our CrossFit friends. What I didn’t know was how impressive this skill would be until I posted a photo from the ‘dress rehearsal’ on Facebook and received a ton of comments about how hard it was to make a mojito at home and awe that I took on such a challenge.

I’ll let you in on a little secret – all I did was crack open a bar book that I received as a gift for my 21st birthday and choose the mojito recipe that was the easiest to make. I bought key lime and mint from the corner produce market, a gallon of Bicardi Rum at the liquor store, and everything else at the grocery store. Turns out that the key limes were key in making the drink sweet and not sour (which would have been the case if I used regular limes).

The recipe (parenthetic commentary are my own)…

Mojito

1 ounce fresh lime juice (fresh squeezed from key limes is best)
1 tablespoon superfine sugar
6 to 8 fresh mint leaves (roll each mint leaf in your fingers before dropping into the glass)
2 ounces light rum
3 to 4 ounces chilled club soda
Fresh mint sprig

Shaken, not stirred – Shake the lime juice, sugar, mint leaves, and rum vigorously with ice. Without straining, pour the entire contents of the shaker into a highball glass flamingo glass, and top with club soda. Garnish with the mint sprig. Complete with a straw.

Other than the mint sprigs, measure out each of the ingredients to keep the ratio (and taste) perfect.

Recipe adapted from the The Ultimate Bar Book: The Comprehensive Guide to Over 1,000 Cocktails (link to recipe).

The Secret to Impressing Your Friends

The thing that surprised me the most about serving about a gallon’s worth of mojitos at my party was how much people are in awe of special skills like cooking or following a recipe. I experience this whenever I bring a homemade pie to a dinner party.

From what some of my friends tell me, it’s like this – people who can follow a recipe usually can because someone showed them how to at one point in their life. And as I’ve learned from making pies and now cocktails from scratch, if you want to learn how to do something, all you need to do is find the directions and learn how to do it.

Violà! Instant party trick!

What’s the best cocktail you’ve mixed at home? And what’s the recipe?