I get a lot of questions about my treadmill desk and how it works. All of the treadmill desks that I looked at were pretty expensive, and I didn’t know if I would really even use one. So my husband and I decided that we would try to build one using an older treadmill that we didn’t feel comfortable running on anymore.

In the first picture you can see the basic setup. We basically drilled 2 shelf brackets ($7 each at Home Depot) into the top of the treadmill and placed a wireless keyboard mouse on top of a plain wood shelf ($10-$20 at Home Depot depending on the size and type). You could use a SurfShelf if you didn’t want to try to make one yourself (about $40 through Surfshelf.com). We already had a television in the “exercise room” (unfinished basement), so we just plugged one of our laptop docking stations into it. I simply take my laptop from the docking station in my office to the docking station in the basement to keep working. If you don’t have any of the above already, you can always go the TrekDesk route for about $500 (available from Amazon).

What can I do on the treadmill and how fast can I go? I actually keep a spreadsheet of every time that I work at the treadmill desk. An example of a good week where I used the desk 4 different days was a total of 432 minutes, 19.27 miles, and 2270 calories burned. That was walking before lunch each day, stopping for lunch, and then walking again after lunch.

As seen in the video below, I tend to walk at about a 3.0 pace and a 3.0 incline when I am checking email, blogging, and doing other things that require typing. If I am watching videos, listening to podcasts, or reading articles, I can walk at about 3.5-4.0 before my “desk” starts to wiggle too much for my liking.

I will caution that the first time that started using my treadmill desk, I ended up with plantar fasciitis and ended up having to buy a couple of products from Heel That Pain to make it better. I still use the products and the plantar fasciitis flares up on me. I can’t say with 100% certainty that it was from using the treadmill desk too much, but that was pretty much the only exercise that I was getting when it happened.

The short video below shows the mechanics of how my treadmill desk is put together, how fast I can walk on it while typing, and a brief glimpse of my infamous Pajama Jeans.

Pajama Jeans

Since I first mentioned Pajama Jeans back on January 3, I have been getting a lot of questions (and teasing!). From Shawn and Lisa talking about them on the Affiliate Thing podcast to the Sunshine Rewards members asking for a review to my Bunco friends all wanting me to wear them last night, everyone has been asking me what I think about them. The sad part is that it is February 17 and they just arrived!

I was starting to get really angry with the Pajama Jeans and I hadn’t even tried them on yet. I know they said that it would take 4-6 weeks for them to arrive, but I had friends who had already gotten theirs. Apparently my size was on backorder. When they finally shipped on February 5, I was so excited. The bad news was that they shipped them via pony or something because shipping took almost 2 weeks.

When I saw the mail lady putting a big yellow package into the mailbox today, I immediately ran out and grabbed it. When I saw that it was, indeed, my Pajama Jeans, I ripped them open to try them on. My first impression was that they definitely looked like denim but felt thinner and stretchier. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that they feel like my fluffy flannel pajamas though.

Without getting too personal, I had to try on a few different pair of underwear with them before I found a pair that worked. I didn’t want you to be able to see lines, and the Pajama Jeans sit low enough that I had to go with low ride undies so you wouldn’t see them when I bend over.

The picture above is the best I could do with my webcam and the timer on Daily Booth. Not the best quality but you can see that they really do look like jeans. I already had on a long-sleeved gray shirt today, so that is what I am wearing with them. I’m going to wear them to lunch with my friends and see if any of them notice. I’ll let you know what they say.

All in all, do I like the Pajama Jeans? Yeah, I do. They are comfy enough that I could do a light workout in them but also look better than any of my stretchy black workout pants. The sizing is perfect, and I went by what they said on the site. Were they pricey? At almost $50 including shipping and handling, they are definitely more than what I would usually spend for pants to wear around the house or run errands in. We’ll see how they wash up.

Want to learn more? Check out my article about Pajama Jeans on Good Morning America.

Let the crazy comments begin.

As an affiliate marketer, I get to know hundreds of online merchants. I see their prices, their coupons, their shipping policies, and what my members say about them on a daily basis. It’s not very often that a merchant makes me so angry as a customer that I am willing to completely out them on one of my websites. But today is that day for Kmart.

I was never a Kmart shopper. I didn’t go to my local Kmart before it closed. I’m mainly a Target girl. However, they were giving us some good promotions at Christmas and so I wanted to send them some of my business. I ordered a sleeping bag for my daughter as one of her main presents. She only likes pink and purple, and it couldn’t be too big. I was picky, but Kmart had what I needed. I was excited and placed the order, only to find out a few days later that it was canceled. I ended up at my local Target a couple of days before Christmas buying a replacement. Strike one for Kmart.

Fast forward a month. My daughter is a huge fan of Wizards of Waverly Place and Kmart has a good deal of WOWP merchandise. I launched a new website and prominently featured their products. Valentine’s Day was coming and I wanted something WOWP for my other daughter. I visited Kmart and placed a number of things in my cart. When I went to check out, one was out of stock. So I added something else to even out the gifts for my two girls. When I went to check out, something else was out of stock. So I had to keep shopping. I finally placed the order and at the same time that I got the order confirmation, I got a notice that one of the items that I ordered was already out of stock! Strike two for Kmart.

Again I went to Target locally to buy a gift to even up my two daughters. As I was wrapping gifts today, I realized that one from Kmart was still missing–the WOWP bracelet that was the main gift. I checked my order online and Kmart was still showing that it was part of the order. No cancellation. I checked my credit card and the full order amount was billed. So I called Kmart to find out if they could give me the tracking number. Turns out they canceled that item but their system is not set up to always kick out a cancellation message. Further, they charge the card first and then check the inventory for Sears products. Now I have to wait for a credit (and the last time that I had to wait for a Sears credit, it took multiple calls and weeks to get my money back). Strike three for Kmart.

The worst part of all of this is that Customer Service told me that they have known since November that they have website and inventory issues. They only update their inventory every 24 hours. As a consumer, I’ve placed orders for 3 items in 2 months that were not in inventory. Think about how many products I have sold through my websites that I ended up not getting paid for due to the same issue, not to mention the frustration of my visitors.

Customer service told me to feel free to email them with my complaints so that they can have them “on file.” The best that they could do was tell me that they were sorry and I would get a credit back within a couple of weeks. I told them I would send them a link to my story once I put it online instead.

If you asked me what relaxes me more than anything else, I would have to say a good book. An enticing book will take my mind away to another world and allow me to focus on something besides working, the kids, the house, or my other responsibilities. The only down side to really good books is that if I get taken away too far, I don’t want to do anything else!

I’m not against reading business books, biographies, or even self-help books. I like learning in general. I’ve read everything from books about how not to be co-dependent to a history of the Conner Family in Indiana. They do say that variety is the spice of life (or at least I think I read that somewhere).

Despite all of that, I still find myself wanting to get lost in fiction. In the last year, I’ve even gravitated toward what they call “young adult” books, something that I would have never imagined. But after 4 Twilight books, 7 Harry Potter, 10 Sookie Stackhouse, 2 Hunger Games, 2 Vampire Diaries, and 6 House of Night books, I’m beginning to gravitate more and more toward the fantasy genre. After years of “chick lit” and legal thrillers, I have found my true escape.

This weekend I read a brand new YA fantasy called “Beautiful Creatures” by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. While I was first getting into it, I read it off and on when I didn’t have anything better to do. By the halfway point, I was reading on every commercial of the Steelers game because I literally didn’t want to put the book down. Although the book is about high school students (and witches!), I was captivated by that feeling of danger mixed with the purity of first love that you only find in YA books.

Something else that I have discovered is that I am particularly drawn to the series books. I think it’s because I never want a good book to end. When you find a good series and can keep reading week after week after week, it’s like you really become a part of the world the author has created. Now I anxiously await not only the next Sookie Stackhouse novel, House of Night novel, and the final book of the Hunger Games trilogy (all coming this year) but also the remaining 5 books of the Beautiful Creatures series.

If you have any interest at all, I recommend checking out some of the books listed above. Even if you think to yourself “I don’t read kid books,” you might be surprised at how entertained and relaxed you will be when you enter the world of wizards, witches, vampires, or werewolves. If you are already a fan, let me know what I might be missing!

(**Note that the Sookie Stackhouse novels are NOT Young Adult like the others. They are similar to Twilight but with a lot more sizzle!)

I wouldn’t dare put this post on BuyTwilightStuff.com for fear of losing all of my readers, but I just had to blog about it somewhere!

The Harvard Lampoon released today a new book parodying the hit “Twilight.” The book is called “Nightlight: A Parody” and the fun begins with a picture of an apple core on the cover. (aff link)

The story is a true parody of Twilight (albeit much shorter at only 160 pages). Belle Goose falls in love with Edwart Mullen, a hot computer nerd. Here’s a quote from the description:

“About three things I was absolutely certain. First, Edwart was most likely my soul mate, maybe. Second, there was a vampire part of him–which I assumed was wildly out of his control–that wanted me dead. And third, I unconditionally, irrevocably, impenetrably, heterogeneously, gynecologically, and disreputably wished he had kissed me.”

Although I am a self-professed Twilight fan, I still think that this book would be quite funny. What do you think? Does it ruin the love story for you? Or does it add to the Twilight legacy?

Why haven’t I been blogging as much lately? Quite simply, I have had my nose stuck in books! After finishing the Twilight Series and the Harry Potter series, I was having a hard time getting into anything again. But knowing that I had a little bit of time to relax over the long Labor Day weekend, I was desperate to find a book to read. In the aisle at Kroger, I found a book that said “Now on HBO, True Blood, the original series based on the Sookie Stackhouse novels.” All of the similarly marked books said that they were written by Charlaine Harris and have “dead” somewhere in the title. I had heard people raving about True Blood, so I figured that I would buy the first book and see what I thought.

By the end of the Labor Day weekend, I think that I was on the 2nd or 3rd book. Fast forward another week and I am now on book 6! They are quick reads (about 300-ish pages each). The first book had an alarming number of similarities to Twilight. But then it diverged and took a different direction.

Similarities to the Twilight series: Main character is a woman who falls in love with a vampire. She has some “other” types of love interests as well who are not completely human. The authors set an interesting atmosphere of a world that is both similar to normal and different. There are enough books that you can keep reading and reading and reading to truly feel invested in the stories.

Differences from Twilight: Sex! While Twilight is in large part about abstinence, the Sookie Stackhouse books each have at least one sex scene that is pretty graphic and a couple of pages long. It’s not like the whole book is about sex, but there is definitely enough to make your cheeks flush.

From what I can tell, there are 9 books in the series. 8 are now in paperback, and you can get a set of the first 7 from Amazon for $32, including free shipping. That’s terrific considering that I paid $48 for the first 6 that I bought at Kroger. I have read that a boxed set of the first 8 is coming out soon as well if you want to wait for it. It’s $34.50 at Amazon with free shipping and ships at the end of September (if you can wait that long!). Book 9 is only available in hard cover right now, and book 10 will be released in May 2010.

I’m making myself take a break before I buy 7-9 so that I can have something to look forward to in the coming weeks if I get all of my work done. I’m anxious to hear what you think of the books if you are reading as well!

I’ll admit from the start that I haven’t yet finished Trust Agents, by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith. Between two conferences in the last week, travel, and the first week of school, reading time has been short. But combining what I have read so far with what I have SEEN in the last 7 days, I can unequivocally say that everyone needs a copy of this book.

A week ago I could barely tell you who Chris Brogan and Julien Smith were. What I could tell you was only from what I read others said about them. Fast forward a week and I could talk your ear off about why I believe in them not because of what they say but because of what they do.

I first saw both Chris and Julien speak at Affiliate Summit. They outlined some of the main points of their new book. That would have been sufficient enough to make me read it. However, actually meeting them and talking to them about what they do and how they do it made me not only want to read the book but also tell everyone I know about it. Chris and Julien have that way of talking to you like you are the only person in the room. You WANT to believe them not because they are buttering you up or trying to sell you something. Instead, they are giving you little pearls of wisdom about how you can be successful.

A few days after Affiliate Summit I had the chance to meet Chris again at Blog Indiana. How excited was I when he called on me by name during a Q&A session? It was a perfect example of how he operates. You build trust, in part, by empowering people. I walked away from that Q&A feeling like a million bucks.

Trust Agents is all about how you use turn personal connections to leverage your message–whatever that message may be. In a “virtual” world where you are more likely to come across someone on Twitter or Facebook than at your local coffee shop, it can be difficult to establish trusting relationships. Trust Agents teaches you how to become a trust agent yourself and how to build relationships with other trust agents (what they call the Agent Zero of each network).

If all of that above isn’t enough to make you want to buy your own copy of Trust Agents, just do a quick Google search and see what everyone else is saying. Learn from people who are DOING it and not just talking about it. Learn from the people who are building networks of trust all over the place–Chris Brogan and Julien Smith.

(Chris Brogan and I at Blog Indiana after his keynote)

While skimming through affiliate newsletters this evening, I came across what has to be one of the coolest gifts for a girl geek that I think I have ever seen. Now, that’s not to say that the guys don’t enjoy a little aromatherapy as well. But at least in my house, I’m the resident “sniffer.”

ThinkGeek is selling a USB Aromatherapy Oil Burner for less than $6. You simply place a little drop of aromatherapy oil onto the “X”. Then you plug it into your USB port and let it heat up. Can you imagine all of the places that you could use this in addition to your home office? Imagine having it with you when you are traveling? You can make those stinky, impersonal hotel rooms smell like your favorite relaxating scent.

Not only do I want a handful of these for myself, but I think that they would make great gifts. At $6, you can afford to have a bunch of them on hand to hand out with thank you cards, pop in Christmas stockings, etc. Anyone with a computer could use it. It comes with one bottle of oil, but you can always purchase your own as well to customize the gift a little bit more. I’m going to order a few and will let you know what I think about them.