In a world where bloggers are everywhere, how can you stand out? How can an influencer reach new people?

I went to an @midnight taping a couple years ago in Los Angeles & wrote about my experience. I never knew what an impact it would have on my blog.

Every day people search for @midnight related content, which leads them directly to my blog. Some of those people come to be regular readers. If you're wondering how to be a local influencer & how to get invited to events as a blogger, you've come to the right place. These are my insider tips to moving up that blogging ladder.

Let me start off by saying: we all poop. Okay now we got that out of the way, have you ever walked into a bathroom & breathed in a heinous scent? Your mouth twitches & immediately turns into a cringe. You plug your nose & frantically drag a breath through your mouth. That my friend is poop. You could use a bathroom freshener or potpourri spray. Toilet sprays are almost a necessity in a full household or busy office.

Green bean casserole. Ah yes, my three favorite words when it comes to Thanksgiving. My mom makes it every single year without fail; it's been part of my family tradition for as long as I can remember. This year I'm hosting a Friendsgiving potluck with my closest buddies. I want to do a creative twist on a classic dish by creating a personalized mini green bean casserole for each guest. Time for a fun, new tradition!

How it Works

Choose unique add-in ingredients tailored to each guest to include in their mini casserole. You can pick any add-in that your heart desires. That's what makes this recipe so fun! I opted for herb goat cheese, asparagus, pine nuts, veggie bacon, & almonds with dried cranberries. If you want to up your side dish ante this Thanksgiving or Friendsgiving, I've got the perfect recipe for you. 

Ingredients

1 can (10.5 oz.) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup
2 cans (14.5 oz. each) of Del Monte® Blue Lake® Cut Green Beans, drained
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
1/4 teaspoon rosemary, chopped
A large bowl

Mini Green Bean Casserole Add-Ins & Toppings

French's Crispy Onions
1 teaspoon herb goat cheese
1 asparagus spear, chopped
1/2 teaspoon pine nuts
1/2 strip veggie bacon, chopped
1/2 teaspoon almonds, chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried cranberries, chopped
Ramekins

Directions

4. Add more green bean casserole to the fill line of each ramekin.
5. Top each green bean casserole with French's Crispy Onions & remainder of respective add-in.
6. Bake for 13 minutes at 350°F.

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 13 minutes
Servings: Seven 3-oz. personalized mini green bean casseroles


I found my green bean casserole essentials at Target in the soup & packaged dinner isle. I was tempted to purchase pretty much everything else in the store. What else is new? Target is the perfect location for all your Friendsgiving needs.


Campbell's® creates a variety of soups that make for a quick & easy mealtime option. Just like in this recipe, add your own twist & favorite garnishes to any Campbell's® soup to make it special for family or friends. Del Monte® green beans are made with green beans, water, & a dash of salt. That's it! Fun fact: in green bean casserole, my sister prefers these canned green beans to fresh green beans.


After eating our meal, we usually put on a movie that all of us have seen multiple times. That way we can just enjoy the company, chitchat, & occasionally quote the film when we do pay attention. It's the best way to catch up casually without being distracted. I hope you have a wonderful & delicious week!

The holidays are coming! Seriously, they're right around the corner, creeping up on us with every passing moment. Family gatherings. Dinner with friends. Holiday parties. Are you ready? If you're not sure what present to give, why not take the leap to a handmade holiday season this year?

I use essential oils year-round. I mix & match oils in my mini diffuser. I add a few drops of essential oil to coconut oil & apply it to my legs for moisture & shine. From home fragrance to body care, Nature's Truth Essential Oils can be incorporated into many creative DIY projects. If you're looking for a simple but special do-it-yourself gift to give friends & family this holiday season, you're in luck. 

You Will Need

Makes 2 heaping cups of body scrub.

How to Make it

1. Combine sugars in a bowl.
2. Slowly mix in the coconut oil.
3. Add Essential Oil.
4. Mix together & scoop the scrub into your sealable container(s).
5. To use: massage a generous amount of scrub to wet skin & rinse off in the tub or shower.

I love to use this scrub in the shower because the spicy scent mixes with the soothing steam to energize the senses. The cinnamon smell is uplifting & reminiscent of holiday baking, while the exfoliating sugars invigorate your skin.

This Cinnamon Sugar Body Scrub is a simple DIY project that anyone will love. I even coaxed my boyfriend to try it out! Use any essential oils your heart desires such as 4 Thrive,  Wintergreen, or Peppermint (one of my faves). Feel free to experiment! I used cinnamon since it's one of my favorite scents.


I'm a genuine essential oil lover & I sincerely hope you try this simple DIY Cinnamon Sugar Body Scrub Recipe. You can use Essential Oils in body scrubs, massage oils, air fresheners, soaps, the list goes on. Here's wishing you happy holidays & happy DIYing!

I love the comfort of a cup of hot tea on a cold & rainy morning. I love seeing the steam dance its way out of the cup & into the air. I love feeling my hands thaw out as I wrap my fingers around the porcelain. I love watching the water transform from a clear liquid to a fragrant, dark drink as the tea leaves steep. I love it all.

Fall is the perfect time to sip on a mug of hot tea. Sprinkle in some Netflix & a cozy velvet blanket & that's my definition of perfection. I like hot tea throughout the year — yes, even during the San Diego summer — but I enjoy it most when it's chilly outside. 

I recently stocked up on some Pure Leaf hot tea from Albertson's to get me through the season, opting for their Green Tea with Mint & Black Tea with Vanilla. Both teas come with 16 pyramid bags in a resealable container. Pure Leaf tea leaves are picked, rolled, & crafted with the finest tea leaves from tea estates around the world. 

The Black Tea with Vanilla combines Indian Assam tea with Madagascan vanilla beans to create a rich aroma & smooth taste. I like to include a generous splash of soy milk to my tea, but it tastes delightful without it because the vanilla shines through.


I chose the Pure Leaf hot Green Tea with Mint because I'm trying to incorporate more green tea into my life. The real peppermint leaves refresh your palate & add so much flavor. I love this tea since it leans more toward the minty side.

For the best taste experience possible, pour 8 fluid oz of hot water over one pyramid tea bag & steep for three minutes. Write down your to do list for the day as your tea steeps to perfection. I prefer using gel pens since they make me feel happy.


I write this in Portland, Oregon, where the temperatures are a drastic drop from sunny San Diego. Tea is most definitely on my mind. You can get $1 off Pure Leaf when you purchase at VONS/Pavilions, Albertson’s, & Safeway.

* Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Pure Leaf. As always, all opinions are 100% mine aka Carmen's. Learn more about my disclosure. :]

If there's anything I love more than munchies, it's having munchies delivered to right to my door. How great is that? As a subscription box lover & international snack snob, I thought MunchPak would be a great box to try out. MunchPak sends you snacks & candies from all over the globe.

Price

Boxes start at $9.95 & increase in size & price. You can customize the frequency from once a week, every two weeks, or once a month. If you want the smallest package delivered only once a month, you can do it. If you want the biggest size delivered each week, you've got it. I like that you can modify the size & frequency to make it work for you. Fred & I opted for the medium size ($19.95) every two weeks.

My 4 Box Rule

When it comes to subscription boxes, I believe in the four box rule — a rule I made up myself. Here's how it works: first box is purely trying it out. The second box gives you a better feel for products. The third box means you're becoming pretty well-seasoned with the box & have a general idea of the items included. That fourth box is the final straw to help you decide to cancel or continue the box. Due to the sheer number of subscription boxes out there, I normally unsubscribe after four boxes & try something new.

If you find yourself in the quaint town of Haarlem, Netherlands & if you're looking for a tasty vegetarian meal, go for Thrill Grill. I have to admit there weren't any vegetarian options save for this exact meal, but it was worth it. Thrill Grill is a must-visit place if you want a unique veggie-friendly dish in Haarlem.

I still dream about the Veggie Falafel Thriller, made with homemade falafel, tomato, pickled cucumber, red onion, & bell pepper hummus served on a toasted organic bun. It was so hearty, filling, & huge. It's not your average falafel either; it's incomparable to any type of falafel I've ever had. Pure delight for vegetarians & non-veggies alike.

Ask for Thrill Grill's herb fries, made with homemade, fresh-cut fries & mixed with tarragon & chervil, a relative to parsley. Pure greasy perfection that's best washed down with a glass of Heineken, the famous pale lager beer brewed in the nearby city of Amsterdam. I tell you what, Heineken tastes best when you drink it locally.

Sit outside. You won't regret the marvelous views & the immense amount of people-watching potential. Haarlem has a lot of character with its cobblestone streets, gabled houses, & narrow alleys. Thrill Grill is centrally located in the market square with a perfect glimpse of the Grote of St. Bavokerk, an important landmark & church within Haarlem.

My Thrill Grill falafel burger remains one of the top meals during my month-long trip to Europe last year. Perhaps it was the superb taste or even the inspiring views, but the verdict is the same: amazing. Homemade, home cut fries paired with a non-conventional burger & a cold glass of Heineken mesh together to create a pleasant & harmonious meal. Ah, the memories.

As a social media manager as well as a local San Diego blogger, I've done my fair share of blog writing, publicity, press, events, & pretty much everything under the social media sun. I've been on both the giving & receiving end of social media marketing. Sometimes that means a brand collaboration, sometimes that's an Instagram collaboration - I have first-hand perspective on what brands look for before working with a blogger. How can you secure a brand collaboration? How do you find local influencer marketing?

I've managed social channels for brands that focus on timeshares, sewing & embroidery designs, vegan energy bars, & more. Blogger outreach, brand collaboration, and Instagram collaboration are the ideal way to get brands in touch with modern influencers. Whether you're a California lifestyle blogger or an organic mommy blogger, make sure your blog is on a brand's radar. If you want to receive more inquiries from brands, get your first brand collaboration, read up on these seven things brands look for before working with a blogger.

Before we get started, subscribe to my newsletter for more blogging & social media tips!

1. Quality Content & Photography

Before a brand even gets around to reaching out to you, we scour your blog to look at your content, your writing, & your photography. We browse your content & photos to judge if a possible brand collaboration would work. We want good spelling & grammar. We want clear & interesting photos. We want to see your personality shine through your words & content. We view your past posts as a reflection of what a collaboration would look like.

2. Social Media Following

We actively look at all of your social media channels to determine if your blog is a good fit for us. After all, we are providing a service, product, or financial compensation to you & your service is exposure, website clicks, & potential sales for us. You don't have to have an enormous social media following. Count up your followers on all your social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr, etc. My tip: sometimes it's more powerful to say, "I have 3,000+ followers across my social media channels," rather than "I have 907 Facebook followers, 750 Twitter followers, 824 Instagram followers, 500 Tumblr followers, etc." If you're looking for an Instagram collaboration, brands will consider your overall reach & comments - they might ask to see your analytics.

3. Activity on Social Media Channels

What good is a social media following if you never Tweet, update, or post? We're looking to see if you're active on social media channels by updating relevant & regular information to what we're selling. For example, a vegetarian jerky brand reached out to me because I Tweeted several times about being vegetarian. If you're a San Diego blogger, make sure you're following local San Diego accounts.

4. Engaged Readers

Engagement is extremely important! You can have a huge social media following but no engagement. You're more valuable to us if you have 100 daily views & 2 clicks to our website versus 10,000 daily views & 2 clicks. If you're lacking in followers, your engagement level may save you. If you have both a decent social media following & engagement that makes a wonderful mixture.

5. Demographics

All the above are great & everything, but are your readers who we are targeting? Your blog readers, their age, their location, & their habits, affect whether or not our brand is a good match for your blog. If we're selling candy bars but your blog focuses on healthy recipes, we're probably not a good pair. If you're a single woman in your early 20s, you may not be a good fit for our family-oriented timeshare rentals.

6. Reliability

Did you know that when brands send free stuff or pay for a sponsored post, that costs money? It usually comes from a yearly or quarterly budget set aside specifically for marketing, social media, or influencer outreach. Blogger outreach is costly & brands only have a certain amount of budget & inventory to give out, so we want to ensure that you will be a reliable blogger should we decide to work with you. How long does it take you to respond to emails? How often do you update your blog? What's your turnaround time for collaborative or sponsored posts? Do you have past examples?

7. Media Kit, About Me, or Sponsor Page

After we determine that everything about your blog is a good match for us, we look at your media kit, about me page, &/or sponsor page to find out more about you. We're trying to find your contact information, other brands you've worked with, your page statistics, & any readily available information. This is the final touch before we gather all the content we've accrued & either take it to a superior for approval or begin reaching out to you.

You heard it from me everybody! This is a step-by-step guide in what brands look for before working with a blogger or pursuing blogger outreach. It's a tedious & time intensive process to find the perfect match for the brand, but if we are a good team it's well worth it.

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KAABOO Del Mar is the new music & arts festival to watch out for. Every music festival has to start somewhere & KAABOO* made its 2015 inaugural showing with a bang. The thing about KAABOO is that it's not just a music festival; it's multifaceted with many layers, opportunities, & experiences. 

KAABOO festival 2016 is scheduled for Friday, September 16 through Sunday, September 18. Last year's festival took place September 18 - 20. Although it was met with a variety of noise complaints from neighbors, according to The San Diego Union Tribune, it was an overall success. If you're contemplating whether or not to attend, here are some reasons why you should go to KAABOO Del Mar music & arts festival this year.

The Live Art

As each day passed, I got to witness the art take life & transform before my very eyes. What began as a mere sketch on day one turned into a full-blown mural by day three. It's basically like going to an art gallery & being able to see the progress.

The Excellent Music

Obviously the largest selling point of a music festival is the music. During its inaugural year, KAABOO festival featured performances from No Doubt, The Killers, Zac Brown Band, Snoop Dogg, & more. Aerosmith, Fall Out Boy, Jack Johnson, Lenny Kravitz, Ludacris, & Steve Aoki are some of the artists slated to play at KAABOO 2016.

The Free Stuff

I'm not sure if it was just because it was its first year in existence but KAABOO killed it with all the free stuff they gave out. There were Lara Bars, free screen printed tote bags, samples of Starbucks drinks, Kettle brand chips, & more. It was utterly glorious, especially for those trying to save money on snacks.

The Comedians

Laughing is good. Laughing is great. Laughing is beneficial for your soul. Comedians add dimension to the festival experience. Anthony Jeselnik & Joel McCale were some of the headliners for 2015. This year, however, KAABOO is upping their comedic ante with stars like Janeane Garofalo, Dana Carvey, Doug Benson, David Cross, & Darrell Hammond. Yes, please!

The Food

Sometimes festivals have the most horrible food in existence, but that's not the case here. KAABOO Del Mar has genuinely gourmet options for any type of person — vegan, gluten-free, etc. There's a delectable choice for everyone with live demonstrations from chefs. You can't get any more gourmet than that.

The Crowd

The average age of the KAABOO crowd is about 10 years older than the average Coachella patron. If you've been to enough shows, concerts, & festivals, you'll understand the value of a nice crowd. The daily average was about 15,000 to 16,000 people, according to The San Diego Union Tribune. That's a huge difference compared to Coachella, which hosts about 99,000 people per day, according to the LA Times.

The Fashion

As with any other festival, it's exciting to see what people choose to wear. Seeing as 2015 was its debut, I didn't see a particular style. I did notice that the majority of people were dressed for comfort, which was refreshing. I didn't get that "I'm only here to get my pictures taken" kind of vibe. We'll have to see what KAABOO 2016 brings.

The Location

Take a look around & you'll see the true beauty that is Del Mar, California — palm trees, sunny skies, & the rolling blue ocean nearby. KAABOO is held on the Del Mar Fairgrounds so it's somewhat nostalgic to have a music festival there as well. It's an iconic venue that has been part of many families' traditions for years.

The Afterparty

Not ready to go home after the headliner's act finishes? You don't have to. Go to the after party with the late-night DJs at the Encore, which is open until 2:30 a.m. If you feel like staying late, there's no need to go home.