Category: links

When Blogs Collide: Group Edition

So my friend Elaine (who I met via our blogs) and her friend Meg organized a local blogger meet-up for Saturday. When Elaine invited me I said I would go even though I’m kind of shy and had the vague feeling I wouldn’t fit in (the crowd was mostly stylish college-age fashion bloggers or talented sewing bloggers). But I like hanging out with Elaine and meeting people with similar interests so I steadied my nerves and went (but dragged a patient N along for support).

(Thanks to Meg for the photo.)

There were about 20 people there so we didn’t get a chance to get to know everyone. We sat at a table with Elaine, Meg, and Heather (and their husbands) and sisters Megan, Adrien, and Shannon. I also got the chance to say hi to Susan whom I’ve been wanting to meet. Her and her husband are finishing up upholstering a 9-foot long couch (!) and so we chatted about that and woodworking.

I think it went pretty well. And afterward N and I went and saw The Ghost Writer which I mostly liked (I had some issues with certain plot points.) N reviewed the movie it here.

If you’re interested, here’s a list of attendees’ blogs: allthisknavery.wordpress.com, cindeelou.blogspot.com, clothedmuch.blogspot.com, feathersflights.blogspot.com, freshbrownies.blogspot.com, freshlypicked.blogspot.com, gangsterpixie.blogspot.com, thedicksonseverafter.blogspot.com, thesecondhandlife.com, oncewomacks.blogspot.com, and uberchicforcheap.blogspot.com.

Goodreads

Growing up, Saturdays mornings were for chores and my responsibilities were the bathrooms. I would sneak a book into the bathroom along with my cleaning supplies and then lock the door and sit on the hamper, reading. For a while my mom wondered how it could take me over two hours to clean one bathroom but eventually she wised up.

Along with reading I also like to catalog things; it feeds the tiny OCD streak I have. I recently stumbled upon a web site that feeds both my love of books AND my love of lining thing up in tidy rows.

Goodreads is a website that lets you track books you’re currently reading, books you’ve read, and books you’d like to read. When you add a book to one of your online bookshelves you can rate and review it as well as see what other people thought about it.

There’s a community aspect to the site as well. You can link to your friends and follow what they’re reading. Some authors also use the site and you can follow them as well (Neil Gaiman is the #1 followed person which somehow does not come as a surprise). They also have some nice widgets you can add to your blog to display your books. I added the books I’m currently reading to my sidebar.

Anyway, if you have some time to kill take a look. Adding books and rating them can be highly addictive. I know I’ve spent entirely too thinking of books I’ve read recently or that stuck out in my mind and adding them to my list. If you’re interested you can see my books here. If you’re already on Goodreads or end up setting up your own account be sure to let me know. I’d like to see what you’re reading.

Sensibly Styled

Wearing modest clothes is important to me. I’m more comfortable when my clothes aren’t too short/too tight/too low cut. But sometimes it’s hard to find modest clothes that are also stylish and cute. I want to feel comfortable in my clothes but I don’t want to look frumpy.

That’s why I’ve been grooving on the blog Sensibly Styled lately. They highlight cute clothes from all sorts of different stores. And sometimes readers ask for help putting together outfits and it’s interesting to see what the Sensibly Styled girls come up with. It’s fun and encouraging to see that there are so many options out there.

500 Pieces of Prudent Advice

I’ve enjoyed browsing through this blog, 500 Pieces of Prudent Advice for my Daughter. When Jaime Morrison Curtis had a daughter she started writing down things she wanted her daughter to know as she grew up. Some pieces of advice are heartfelt, some are common sense, and some made me laugh.

It made me think about the things I hope E learns as he grows up. Something trite but true that came to mind is that kindness costs nothing to give but benefits everyone. That, and not to eat beans before a date.

How about you? What sort of advice or tips would you want to give your kids?

Links I Like: Baby Edition

It seems like several bloggers whose sites I read are in some stage or another of having a baby.

Conception
Karen Cheng’s Snippets of Life: Karen is a talented graphic designer, Chinese-Australian, and mum to two adorable boys. And her and her husband are trying to conceive baby number 3, who they hope will be a girl. Follow the saga here.

Pregnancy
Amalah: Amy’s writing is sassy and funny (with some mild language if that sort of thing bothers you). She has an adorable toddler son, Noah. And after trying for a while, she recently found out she’s pregnant. Amy’s going to be writing a weekly pregnancy column for Alpha Mom throughout her pregnancy. She also writes my favorite beauty advice column, The Advice Smackdown.

Birth
Sweet Juniper: This husband (Dutch) and wife (Wood) team just had their second child, a boy. Their writing is well-crafted and thoughtful.

Adoption
American Family: AmFam recently reflected on the one year anniversary of the adoption of her daughter L.

Links I Like: Photography Edition


Huzzah! E.’s fever has gone down. I can tell that he’s feeling a lot better. He’s back to his normal cheerful self, although he still seems a little tired. Phew!

Anyway, here are some links I like:

http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com/ This is a fun photography blog about street fashion by a fashion industry insider. He frequently travels abroad and it’s interesting to see the fashion in different cities.

http://www.unphotographable.com/ During a trip to Ethiopia, there were times that Michael David Murphy was unable to capture the photographs he wanted to because of the taboo against photography in the Muslim communities he was visiting. So he created this site to document the moments he was unable to photograph. The writing is very lyrical and reminds me again why I love photography.

http://1000words.kodak.com/ The Kodak employee photoblog. Sometimes they have fun projects or good tips.