Speaking of hot Roman weather....

 According to Google Maps, L and I walked a whopping 5 kilometers from our hostel to the Vatican City in somewhere between 1-2 hours, under the blazing summer sun. Silly us, we thought we only walked a mile or so. It was a beautiful day though, with blue skies and an occasional breeze. The only caveat about going to the Vatican City on such a hot day is covering up enough to enter St.

The National Retail Federation predicts that holiday sales this year will increase 4.1 percent to $586.1 billion and that online shopping will jump a whopping 12 percent to $96 billion. These are the best numbers we've seen since the beginning of the Great Recession in late December 2007. For nonprofits that have online stores or receive a percentage of profits from ethical retailers, it could be a banner year for online sales.

Each week, Dear Gracie answers questions from ProfNet Connect readers with advice from our network of nearly 50,000 ProfNet experts. Has there been a question burning in your mind lately, something you’ve been wondering that none of your colleagues can answer? Please send it to grace.lavigne@prnewswire.com

Dear Gracie,

Instagram has been around for a couple of years, but seems to have exploded in popularity recently.

Thank you to everyone who makes a difference in big and small ways every day!  This is a perfect time of year to express gratitude and thanks.  Here are 88 Tweetable social good quotes to inspire and share positive ideas.

I am grateful for so many things, including great friends around the world, online and off! ~Amy          aka @CharityIdeas

Click here for the NEW printable color PDF!

I had someone approach me on Twitter today with a website link.   I do check these sites out but I make sure my virus filter is updated .. hehe.

Today was a great find ... a source to purchase followers for Twitter, and purchase likes on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube.  Wow this is amazing, for only $180 you can purchase 100,000 Twitter Followers ..

ohhhh budapest.  you deserved so much more of my time instead of a scant 28 hours! if only i hadn't done some bookings while half-asleep, if only i hadn't gotten lost and wandered around the city for a couple hours, if only i hadn't had to hang out in my suite and do laundry--we would have become so much better-acquainted!   but, the suite i got to stay in was really cool and communist-looking. 

Hair wrapped artfully in a turban of black cloth, her tough frame is softened by a lilac top and short frilly skirt. As she saunters in and out of the room, I watch the light momentarily catch on her earrings – they are two silver crescents, raw and slightly tarnished, sweeping around a hollow in the shape of the full moon.

You think of Chicago and you think architecture. You think bone chilling cold winters. Television buffs think of George Clooney and ER. You think industrial revolution. You think The Jungle and Sister Carrie. You think the mob and Al Capone. But, I certainly never thought gardens. Chicago has gardens at every other turn. You go two blocks and there’s a garden or a park.

Freshly constructed, Europe's tallest building looks like a giant alien mothership has landed.