Writing Wednesday: Led versus lead

The notorious lead pipe (and my least favorite weapon in Clue).

This may seem like a no-brainer, but I've seen a few people struggle with using lead and led at work lately and thought it might be helpful to post something here in case you're also confused. Check out the definitions below:

• Lead: This is a verb meaning "to guide" and is the present tense of the word. Example: Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
• Lead: A grey metal once used in pencils and household paint. Example: Be careful when stripping the walls of your home; lead-based paint can be toxic.
• Led: The past tense of the word lead. Example: I led a team of 20 writers when I worked at The New York Times.

Seems simple, right? I think people get confused when they read lead (the verb) as lead (the metal) and don't think before using it as the past tense. Always use led, unless you're writing in the present tense or are, in fact, talking about a hazardous metal in paint chips — which is not usually the case.

Do lead and led trip you up? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

P.S. I'm heading on a road trip later this week for my brother's high school graduation, so I'm taking a short break. See you next week!

Music Monday: True Colors

I am kind of embarrassed to admit how much I am obsessed with The Voice, but I absolutely love it. I think the judges (Usher, Shakira, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton) have great chemistry, and I think it's cool that they're trying to help people become better singers and not just offer lame, misguided advice (cough, cough — American Idol).

Anyway, one of my favorite remaining singers is Michelle Chamuel, and I was mesmerized by her cover of "True Colors." I have loved this song for years and was skeptical when I heard she was going to sing it, too (since how do you compete with Phil Collins and Eva Cassidy), but she really held her own.

Do you love it, too? Let me know what you thought — and if you're watching The Voice, I'd love to hear who your favorites are!

Fashion Friday: Feeling blue

Top: Connexion 21 (old) | Belt: Wisteria Boutique | Skirt: DownEast Outfitters (old) | Sandals: Shoe Carnival (old)

We've been interviewing a bunch of candidates at work for an open position on my team, so I decided to step up my normal work outfit of jeans and a T-shirt and wear a blouse and skirt this week. I've had this skirt for several years now, but I absolutely love it — and adding the mint belt gives it a fresher look.

What's your go-to outfit when you want to look more professional at work while still saying cool? Temperatures here have suddenly shot into the high 80s, so I'm trying to stay away from my wool dress pants right now.

Writing Wednesday: Reply all

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I'm keeping things brief again today (I'm absolutely exhausted, and the week isn't even half over yet), but I wanted to quickly share my thoughts about the "reply all" function in email.

At our company, there are people who use the reply all button constantly as a way to show support for co-workers — which means that "Congratulations on your new baby!" or "Way to go, Jeff!" emails come flooding in after someone announces good news. And of course there are the people who respond to all on mass texts (particularly annoying when you get a bunch of texts from people you don't know).

I'm sure we've all been annoyed by those people who hit reply all without thinking and tell the whole company that they won't be able to attend an upcoming event — and those people are always going to push reply all and disrupt your day. But here are a few ways you can discourage people from clicking the dreaded button next time:

• Don't include a big group of people on an email or text you don't want shared. This sounds obvious, but it's worth a reminder: Sending sensitive information or personal details to a big group of people is just asking for trouble. One of them is bound to reply all and annoy everyone else in your contact list. For brevity's sake, just send the email to a few people at a time, if you can.
• Use the BCC field to prevent people from replying to all. BCC is my best friend when I'm sending corporate emails out to the entire company or to a certain team or division, because it hides the recipients and makes it impossible for people to respond to everyone who received the email. If it's possible, use this anytime you don't want people to reply all to a message.
• Make it clear in the message that people should reply to you directly. Sometimes all it takes is a reminder in the email that you want people to respond to you personally and not copy everyone else in the email, though they may have been copied as an FYI. If you notice someone who frequently replies all, mention tactfully to them that replying only to you is more efficient and that it doesn't distract other people with extra emails.

Does the reply all button get to you? What suggestions do you have for getting people to leave that function alone, especially at work?

Music Monday: Cold Wind

I hope all you ladies had a wonderful Mother's Day! I actually got to spend time with my mother on Saturday as we met in the middle (somewhat) in northern Utah for a friend's wedding. The weather was beautiful, and it was fun to get away from Salt Lake for a little while and drive through Logan and Paradise (yes, that is an actual town in Utah, and it lives up to its name).

Since I'm still loving folky, chill music right now, I thought I'd share this gem from Joshua Hyslop. He's got a really calming voice that I absolutely love, and his songs are beautiful. Enjoy — and let me know if you're a fan, too!

Fashion Friday: Chain, chain, chain

Lace shirt: Mall boutique | Necklace: GroopDealz (similar here)

Andrew and I just celebrated my friend Mackenzie's birthday at a Thai restaurant, so I thought I'd share this quick picture of us. I am absolutely in LOVE with chain-link necklaces and have both black and white ones. While you can get metal, mine are made of plastic — which makes them lightweight and affordable. I paid $3 each for them, and now I wish I had more colors!

Are you loving any necklaces lately? Have you been rocking the chain-link trend?

Writing Wednesday: Literally the most annoying word in the world

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Every time I see or hear someone use the word literally incorrectly, I cringe a little inside. If you are using the word literally to describe something that did not or could not, in fact, happen, stop doing it.

Here are some ridiculous examples of using the word literally the wrong way:

• I literally had a heart attack when I saw John coming down the street. (Really? Your heart actually stopped beating and had to be jump-started?)
• I literally died laughing at school today. (So you're back from the dead?)
• That was literally the funniest thing I've ever seen. (And you've lived how long?)

So. Don't use the word literally unless you really mean it; sprinkling it into every casual sentence like salt only weakens the word and irritates people listening to you talk. Of course, mental pictures like the one above that result from misuse of the word literally are always entertaining. :)

Does literally bother you? Have you found yourself overusing it?