Save Your Facebook Look Back Video to Your Computer

It's been fun watching all the Look Back videos on Facebook as the company celebrates its tenth anniversary.  With one click, Facebook will create a quick video featuring some of your top moments on your Facebook page.  If you haven't made yours, go to this URL https://facebook.com/lookback/ while you're on Facebook.

Once you have your video up on Facebook, you will probably want to download it to your computer.  It's a little complicated, but if you follow these instructions, you can do it.

1. Open a Chrome browser. 
2. Go here and copy the long code.
3. Go to your Facebook Look Back Movie as though you are going to watch it.
4. Press Ctrl+Shift+J to open a bar at the bottom of your screen and click Console. OR you can click on the Settings, go to Tools/Java Script Console.
5. Next to the blue arrow, paste the long code you copied in step 2.
6. Hit Enter.
7. A link will pop up telling you to "click here to download your LookBack.  Click on "here."
8. While your video is playing, right click on it and choose "Save Video As."
9. Name and click Save.

That's it - you got it.  Enjoy! 

PS.  Guess what.  You can edit your video and change what it features!

1. Go to your video https://www.facebook.com/lookback/
2. Scroll down below it and click "Learn More about Look Back."
3. Click on "How can I edit my movie?"

10 Unique Valentine's Ideas

 

It's time now to start your DIY Valentine's Day projects and I've gathered some of my Internet favorites for you.  Valentine's Day used to be my favorite holiday; hearts, my favorite shape.  I used to make cards smothered in Victorian lace, glittered hearts and gooey love cliche's.  But this year, I'll let you do the work.

My #1 Favorite Valentine's Gift Idea for 2014:
Cookie Dough.  Let me stress:  Homemade cookie dough.  Don't give away store stuff.  Some of us are famous for our cookies, so why not give away the dough all mixed up in advance?  I Heart Naptime has great instructions and a free downloadable gift tag to go with the cookies.  Cookie Dough Gift Idea.

#2.  Valentine's Day Distressed Photo Blocks.   This really is my #1 favorite, but because of the time, supplies and skill level involved in making these, I bumped it to #2.  I love photos, wood and anything distressed, so these really caught my eye.  If you like art, scrapbooking or modpodge, this one's for you.

#3.   Free Assorted Valentine's Day Printables.  Several different Valentine's Tags for gift ideas.  My favorite is the paper lunch bag with the printable seal and a clothespin at the top.  You can alter the clothespin with scrapbooking supplies, too, for a little extra fun.

#4.  Personalized Candy Bar Wrappers.  Of course, I want a Hershey bar in this, but you can fit it to other candy bars.  This one, too, could be my #1 favorite.
 

#5.  Personalized Water Bottles.  Too much sugar?  Hand out cute, decorated water bottles.  Everybody's going to be thirsty after all their candy binges.

#6.  I Only Have Eyes For You Card/Notebook.  This one has directions to be made as a card.  But I suggest you use a plain notebook and make this a journal for someone.  You can get plain cardboard journals at a craft store and even some Walmarts or Targets now.  If you want to splurge on someone, get a Moleskine and alter it with the fabulous eyeballs.

#7.  Toilet Paper Tube Owls.  If you are a teacher, this looks like a great craft for the class.  There was one suggestion that a bag of candy can be tucked inside the tubes to make it a gift idea.

#8.  Kool-Aid Free Printable Valentine's Tags.  "You are totally KOOL, Valentine."  This is super cheap, super easy and all kids love Kool-Aid.

#9.   Nuts About You ~ Gift of Gourmet Nuts.  OK, so you can cut costs and use plain peanuts, but I think this gift idea would be nice with gourmet flavored nuts like praline pecans or Cajun peanuts, etc.

#10.  Love.... In Any Language.  My son-in-law did this one.  Write "I love you" in different languages on hearts and paste them all over your sweetie's house.  All.  Over.


#11.   20 Perfect Valentine's Day Desserts.  A bunch of foodie ideas all in one place!  That, my friend, is my Valentine to you.

Happy Valentine's Day! (early)

Why We Love Venice (And You Should, Too!)

We visited Venice in May of 2012.  We spent a delicious, rainy, exhausting, exhilarating 2 days in Venice and wished we had more.  With the not-so-friendly Venetians and the way-too-many tourists, it's not a place to which I want to return more than once.  But it's a place I insist everyone must see.

Seven Top Reasons We Love Venice (And You Should, Too!)

1.  Cars aren't allowed in Venice.  You can park in lots just outside Venice, but the lots are usually full and the attendants, sketchy.  Leave your car at your lodging and take a bus in.  We stayed in Padua and took the bus in.  It was a little inconvenient, but not bad.

2.  Canal side cafe'.  Sure, you'll pay a table fee, but you'll be gazing at the gondolas floating past, resting your feet and deciding what to do next. The cafe' pictured is on St. Mark's Square.  I didn't have a photo of one along the canal.

3.  Gondolas.  Whether you ride one for 100 euros or not, you will love them all the same.  Walking over the bridges and through the alleys, you will drop your jaw every single time you see a gondola passing.  Every. Single. Time.

4.  Piazza San Marco / St. Mark's Square.  Absorb an 11th century piazza with geometric patterns of tile with tourists and pigeons sharing the space.  Pay the fortune to have an espresso by the piano and just sit there to take it all in.

5.  Basilica di San Marco.  832 AD and contains the remains of St. Mark.  Get tickets in advance and check their hours of operation.

6.  Doge's Palace.   Established in the 9th century and rebuilt a few times since then, full of political history, this palace became a museum in the early 20th century and includes the famous Bridge of Sighs.  Walking across the Bridge of Sighs is intense.  Get your tickets in advance and skip the line.  Keep an eye on the hours of operation, including lunch break.  We couldn't get our audio hooked up because they were on lunch break.  They were sitting right in front of us and wouldn't help until their lunch break was over.  (Venetians aren't a friendly lot)

7.  Alleys.  Walking through the alleys and streets around the winding canals is stunning.  Stumbling across ancient churches, squares, palaces and more, looking up at the colorful shutters and window boxes in narrow alleyway homes, it's just extraordinary. Then to have the gondolas float by, some with music and couples in love -- it's just phenomenal.  You must go.

I thrillingly wrote this post in under an hour as part of HubSpot's 30-Day Blog Challenge, using 15 of my 60 minutes digging for the knicked-up external hard drive which contained the photos from my trip and was buried under boxes and files and dust.

Best Chili in Columbia, SC: Chili Cook-Off

Do you think you make the best chili in the SC Midlands?  Share your chili recipe with over 500 chili-tasters from 5 - 8 pm on Saturday, March 1, 2014 in the Ellison Building at the State Fairgrounds to participate in the 16th Annual Chili Cook-Off hosted by The Palladium Society.

To enter, you must register by 4:00 pm on Feb. 25, 2014 along with paying a $20 fee.   Your registration fee covers your chili entry and two tickets - one for you and one for a guest.

Register Here for the Chili Cook-Off

You can read the many rules and guidelines when you register, but here are a few to give you a heads-up:

• Judges will begin judging at 4:30pm. Your table & chili must be ready by then. Judging must be completed no later than 6:30pm.
• Judges will have on nametags so you will know who they are.
• The event opens to the public at 5:00pm.
•  Cookers may check-in as early as 3:00pm and NO LATER than 4:00pm.
• If a Judge comes to your table and you are not ready to provide a sample, you will be given a score of zero.  {{HARSH!}}
  
• Chili should be prepared prior to check-in at the Ellison building on the State Fairgrounds
• Please prepare a minimum of 8 quarts of chili to ensure all guests can sample all entries

Register Now!!

If you want to attend, but don't want to make chili, the entry fee is $30.  Purchase your tickets online or by email at akinard@historiccolumbia.org.  Members have a discount price.  All tickets will be $30 at the door.

Follow Historic Columbia on Twitter,  YouTube and Facebook.

Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building Up Close Tours End Soon

The Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) is a magnificent thing.

You cannot grasp the size of this structure unless you view it up close and personal.   Look closely at the photo above, there is a regular size tour bus parked in front of it right at the center, under that bright white spot.  The VAB stands 525' tall, contains 45,000 tons of steel and the building alone has a 3-acre footprint.  She was built to withstand a hurricane and she did.

 

KSC has been offering up-close tours for a limited time after the closing of the Shuttle program.  KSC will discontinue these tours on February 11, 2014 so they can put the old girl back to work.  As a working spaceflight facility, the VAB will be put to use again for the new SLS launch systems for 2017.

The KSC Up-Close VAB Tour includes a tour of the VAB with an expert guide, a tour in which you can see firsthand where vehicles were assembled for launch.  Extra stops include a panoramic view of all launch pads from the NASA Causeway and the Apollo/Saturn V Center. This tour also includes General Admission to KSC.  The tour is 2 hours and costs $75 per adult, $59 for kids 3-11.  The General Admission includes tons of stuff - enough for two full days of fun at KSC - and includes the Astronaut Hall of Fame and a tour of the retired shuttle Atlantis.

Click Here to Purchase a Ticket for the VAB Up-Close Tour

NASA knows how to give an up-close and personal tour.  I've been given a few as part of their NASA Social program.  Read more here:

NASA Up-Close and Personal with the Mobile Launcher
NASA Up-Close and Personal with the new Swamp Works Research and Development Lab
NASA: Up-Close and Personal for a Rocket Launch
NASA: Up-Close and Personal with Astronaut Ron Garan
NASA: Up-Close and Personal with Astronaut Doug Wheelock with an Emergency on the ISS

The VAB was originally built to vertically assemble the Saturn V rocket.  During the Shuttle program years, the VAB housed the Mobile Launcher and the shuttles were assembled here.  The mobile launcher tower is brought into the building horizontal and brought to an upright position with 2 big daddy cranes.  The shuttle is assembled and the Mobile Launcher is moved via the giant crawlers.

In the Apollo days, NASA had offices in the VAB which were removed during the shuttle program years because of the dangers associated with having the rocket fuel stored inside.

View more photos from the NASA TDRS-K Social where I had this VAB tour.  If you sign up for a tour, I recommend you stay in Titusville and definitely eat at Dixie Crossroads.  Get your morning coffee from Sunrise Bread Co. or Cafe' Chocolat and take it over to the river's edge. Go out on the dock and sip slowly while gazing across at Kennedy Space Center. Spend some time in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, too. And Stonefire Arts Center - go hear some live music and you have to talk to Maxine Trainer, tell her I sent you. Oh, and visit Indian River City UMC if you're there on a Sunday.

Follow NASA on Instagram, Google+, Facebook, Twitter and more.  Here are a few of the twitter accounts:

@NASALADEE, @NASA_Wallops, @NASAAmes,@OrbitalSciences, @NASA, @NASASocial,

#NASASocial

Hidden Falls, a Serial Novel Released in 13 Weekly Episodes

Hidden Falls is a 13 part serial novel in electronic format by Olivia Newport from Shiloh Run Studios that will be released by Barbour Books in weekly episodes starting January 24 2014.  I'm excited to see how this will play out.  Much like your favorite TV series, this story will have you waiting all week to see "what happens next."

The first episode has been released early and you can download it for free right now. 

Episode One introduces the folks of Hidden Falls, a central Illinois community on the banks of Whisper Lake.....

Goncalves is Out, Annie Seels is Out, Dakar 2014

We're They're up to Stage Five on the Dakar now.  In which Paulo Goncalves looked a little like this:

Goncalves had to retire from the race, I hate that.  Here's part of the official Stage 5 Dakar report:

After four days of racing, a good number of the favourites on the Dakar have already suffered for various reasons or even returned home in some cases. Marc Coma, however, chose the morning of the 5th stage to burst into action and strike a major blow against all his rivals, whether named Cyril Despres, already in difficulty the day before......

Polar Vortex Affects Stonecarvers

The Polar Vortex, that "lobe" of dense, cold air that detached from the North Pole and is hovering over North America, has settled upon my son's workplace.   Today, he is lumbering his way through the Vortex because the show must go on.  Somebody needs to make the donuts.  He's bringing home the bacon.  And all that.

I'm just glad I'm in working by the fire.

... And I'm glad for Instagram... so I'm Insta in his life.  His momma all over it.
... And I'm proud that my son can wear something pink.  And be OK with it.

Dakar 2014: Welcome to January

Each January, while everyone is making new years resolutions, I am reminded of one of my big regrets in life -- that I didn't finish journalism school at USC.  Having completed three years, I quit before my senior year, married, had kids and enjoyed life tremendously.

But each January, I really, really regret not being a journalist covering the Dakar.  The Dakar is a thirty-year old, extreme desert race for cars, trucks, and bikes, a two-week test of endurance that has cost some their lives, others, their health or bike and many, their desire to ever do it again.

There was a time when I "covered" the Dakar (and 2010 coverage) for The Race Shop.  Glory days.  The Race Shop closed after James' final Dakar rally.....

How Healthy are the Products You Use Everyday? GoodGuide App Helps You Buy Smarter

I've recently been concerned about the everyday products I ingest through the air or through my skin everyday such as makeup, lotions, hair products, air fresheners, candles, etc.  Things we don't usually think much about, but use repeatedly.

Trying to buy smarter is challenging.  It takes a chemist to interpret ingredients listed on a label.  It takes a lobbyist or activist to interpret a company's environmental stance.

Not anymore!  Try the GoodGuide App.  This app has all the product information you want with the touch of a button.

I just downloaded the GoodGuide app and scanned my Crest Toothpaste.....

Popinjay: Guilty

guilty

: responsible for committing a crime or doing something bad or wrong

: showing that you know you have done something bad or wrong

: feeling bad because you have done something bad or wrong or because you believe you have done something bad or wrong

Best Snack for Christmas and New Year's Parties

I should have given this to ya'll a few weeks ago, but I totally forgot.  This has been one of the best snack recipes I've ever had.  These are easy to make, can look very fancy if you drizzle the white chocolate carefully, and are always a crowd pleaser.   May I present . . .

Pretzel Turtle Snacks.

Have a very Merry Christmas Eve, enjoy your friends and family and take time to worship baby Jesus!