Where has the Breaking Even blog been? It's a good question.

I promised I'd never write an apology post but this blog needs one. I am sorry I haven't been keeping things up. For the last few weeks, I've been looking at this blog as a chore. In short, I had forgotten why I started writing it, which is that I love not only the idea of blogs but an excuse to write on a regular basis.

I am back in love with the Breaking Even blog, folks!

This week, it's back to the usual schedule from now on. You can now count on a posting multiple times a week:

Too Cute Tuesday is a weekly event that involves a craft, a cocktail, and a friendly get together. Join us each week for a different inexpensive craft. Currently there are TCT chapters in Bar Harbor, Maine and Saint Louis, Missouri. If you want to join in on the fun, check out Facebook or contact Nicole. 

Sometimes, you just know you are going to need to do something easy. Enter this week's Too Cute Tuesday,inspired by ReadyMade magazine's snow globes. (Click through to see their cute end products!)

What better craft to not only salute our blustery couple of weeks but to finally do a craft involving glitter? Add a snowy cocktail and we've got ourselves a night!

Too Cute Tuesday is a weekly event that involves a craft, a cocktail, and a friendly get together. Join us each week for a different inexpensive craft. Currently there are TCT chapters in Bar Harbor, Maine and Saint Louis, Missouri. If you want to join in on the fun, check out Facebook or contact Nicole.

The Saint Louis branch of our club was making sock puppets so we thought it'd be fun to do the same.

And since last week, I processed 30 pounds of organic blueberries, we thought the cocktail should involve them. Tasty antioxidants and a silly craft. Could we have more fun? 

Marketing Monday is a weekly feature that showcases a cool company, individual, or application of internet marketing. Got an idea? Send it to me!

So a completely serendipidous and slightly odd opportunity came over my Facebook feed this week. A couple who happen to be my friends own Barkwheats, a Maine-based organic grain-free dog biscuit company. Their newest flavor treat involves blueberries so they had an opportunity to buy bulk organic Maine blueberries at $2/pound. The price, however, would be even lower if more boxes would be bought so he passed on the opportunity to his Facebook friends.

The catch? The berries came in 30 pound boxes. Mission still accomplished. We bought enough so the price ended up being $1.75/pound. But how?

There are some weeks where it seems that you get a lot done but it all seems like small and unrelated things keep coming up for you to deal with? That was this week at Breaking Even Communications. Good news is it was all pretty manageable.

Here are a few things that happened this week: 

Forgetting to do something finally made me try Basecamp project management software.

Project management is one of those things you always mean to do, like cleaning your bathtub. All it takes is one metaphorical slip to finally make you get on your hands and knees. Yup, I finally forgot to do something so it was finally time to manage the details of these different projects at BEC.

I've tried a few different free or cheap project management software options only to find something missing. I finally decided to try out Basecamp, which is one of if not the most popular project management software online that will end up costing me around $50 a month if I decide I like it.

Too Cute Tuesday (TCT) is a weekly event on the Breaking Even blog that involves friends, crafting, and a cocktail. Every week it's a different, inexpensive craft to make and a different, fun cocktail to keep things social. If you have an idea for a craft or otherwise want to participate, contact Nicole.

Today, there was a huge snowstorm. Being that I work from home and didn't have to go anywhere, I just got to hear about it all over the internet. Sure enough, I went to walk to the gym and found almost a foot of snow on my front step. 

Most of the Too Cute Tuesday crew went home after work to get off the roads and shovel the snow away from their respective residences. This TCT, I spent some quality time with myself, some special hot chocolate and with an easy project. Ahhh, Nicoleitude...Like solitude, only better. 

Know of a company or individual marketing themselves well online? Let me know about it and they could be featured on Marketing Monday! 

The human spirit is often most inspiring in the middle of terrible events. The earthquake in Haiti was certainly on everyone's minds this past week. I was personally quite proud of the role that internet marketing and in particular social media played in not only raising awareness but fundraising around this tragedy. Here are a few ways that the internet moved efforts along:

Social media resulted in pressure to give. 
I think we can all agree that sometimes, peer pressure can be good. In the case of the Haiti earthquake, on Friday afternoon, I felt like the only person on Twitter who hadn't donated to the cause. And I felt guilty, which made me finally make my own donation.

In addition to regular media coverage, social media was able to bring up-to-date and user-generated information about the latest news in Haiti.

Too Cute Tuesday (TCT) is a weekly event on the Breaking Even blog that involves friends, crafting, and a cocktail. Every week it's a different, inexpensive craft to make and a different, fun cocktail to keep things social. If you have an idea for a craft or otherwise want to participate, contact Nicole.

The French have given many wonderful things to society: pain au chocolat, coq au vin, and more relevant to Too Cute Tuesday, the art of decoupage.

At Craft Central, we were joined by the fabulous Jessica, the other Nicole (ie not the author of this blog), and Nicole's two kiddos Sophie and Bella.