A League of Your Own

Here at SMSC, part of our mission is to build community. Part of that is getting to know each of you as we make & deliver your meals. We know which of you have allergies, we know some of your children, we know some of you have had a hip replacement, or broke your kneecap, or just had babies. Some of you are on dialysis, or need a low or no-salt diet. We make all our meals with great awareness and love & work hard to meet your personalized needs. We hope to give you strength and service that you cannot get elsewhere--certainly not as tasty anyway. And we don't ever want to trap you into a "subscription." We want what you want--great food and great connection.

Building community and staying connected is not always easy, but we found a really cool way to stay connected and share a bit of a good time with friends and family that we want to share with you so you can strengthen your own ties with your own circle of family & friends. AND GET THIS: It doesn't involve any POLITICS, SPORTS, and RELIGION...and it's FREE!

Wait, is that even possible? Okay, it may be that you don't even like anyone and only want to order meals and be left alone. That's okay, too. If you just want to order meals, you can order now HERE for next week's menu and talk to or see no-one. We respect that, too! We will stealth those meals right onto your porch and ding-dong-ditch you (or just text if that's what you want).

But for everyone else who wants get in on their own league of fun and connection, then read ahead.

HOW CREATE A LEAGUE OF YOUR OWN

So surely you've heard of sports leagues where people bet which teams are going to win certain games and then as you go through the season and listen to your insufferable cousin brag about how good they are at stealing someone's picks online. Great. SOME people are really excited and enjoy these betting leagues. Personally, I don't follow most of those sports, and participation for me is merely to stay connected, but admittedly I don't enjoy it. And worse, I don't care about those sports and so picking teams I am predicting will win is a huge chore because I admittedly KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THEM.

Enter our nephew Nate. This past spring he summarily invited the ENTIRE FAMILY to a MUSIC LEAGUE. And supper clubbers, I have to say, this is the most fun I've ever had in a little online game. So we got an invitation to download this free app called MUSIC LEAGUE. I created my own profile easily & quickly and was instantly in our Heenan Family League.

This logo is linked to the Apple App Store

Music League is a music discovery & playlist creation app that gamifies the process of sharing and discovering new music with friends & family. Users form "leagues" with friends, family or colleagues and participate in rounds with specific themes, submitting songs that fit the theme. After submissions, a playlist is generated, and users can listen, vote and comment on each others song choices.

The app fosters friendly competition, allowing users to discover new music and engage with others' musical tastes.

So far we have "competed" in 17 rounds and right now my husband is in third place. We are talking with each other every week. There are 18 individuals in our family across multiple states and multiple generations. My daughters, nieces, nephews, siblings and in-laws are all submitting and voting on songs and we are chatting inside the app. For the last round called "Songs with a name in the title" we suggested that our pregnant niece's daughter would be named the winning name song. Of course, that won't actually happen, but Victoria is not such a bad name--at least better than the Real Slim Shady. You can see how ridiculously funny it can be.

And the app is FREE! You do have to watch some ads now and then, but I don't mind. There is a paid version that will eliminate the ads, if you are so inclined. Here is a little video on how to set up and invite A LEAGUE OF YOUR OWN:

We hope you enjoy learning about Music Leagues and give it a try. It's a great way to share and discover new music and stay connected to your friends and family near and far. You can create a friendly competition at work that will foster connection and engagement that is non-threatening and doesn't involve politics, religion nor sports, and your league can be set up how you like. For example you can keep it positive and allow only upvotes, and no down votes. If someone fails to participate in a round, nothing happens, they are simply dropped from that round. It's friendly and a fun way to learn some new songs (okay, so yes, we go Rick-rolled, too, of course).

And if you have any questions about it, I'd be happy to share my personal experiences. We hope you continue to enjoy your own connections and find positive & fun ways to stay engaged and connected to your own communities. And we look forward to making you your own personalized meals this coming week-and every week.