Too Many Blogs To Follow=Google Reader

I'm currently following 111 of my favorite blogs! How do I have the time, what with a full time job, kids, grandkids, hobbies, classes, etc.?

Google Reader, my current favorite online tool. You simply need to have a Google account, and if you're already a Blogspot blogger, you already have a Google account. It's your sign-in id name for Blogger.

Then, whenever you come across a blog you'd like to keep updated on, you simply open up your Google Reader, hit the "add subscription" button and as long as that blog allows its' feeds to be broadcast (which all bloggers should!), your Reader will "subscribe" to that blog's all new posts.

So, all your blog links will be in one place and have all current updates. No more link lists or individually entering URLs to visit your fave blogs. You simply go to your Reader page and can quickly catch up on any new posts your favorites have added.

You'd be suprised how quickly and easily you can keep up-to-date with a number of blogs this way! And, as I did today, you can add the widget that I did on the right --> that provides links for all your favorite blog subscriptions without having to input them one by one!

* I forgot an important point! Google Reader will also begin to recommend blogs to subscribe to based on your current subscriptions, so you can discover new ones, yay!

I Need To Make An Important Announcement

I'm going to yell here...just to get it out, 'kay?
Here we go...

I AM SICK TO DEATH OF THE WORD "BLING"!

It's played out, people. Overdone. Ran into the ground. Enough already.

Now, I am not the purveyor of cool, by any means. And I am completely in understanding of those of you who use the word in a I-know-this-is-goofy-as-heck-so-that's-why-I-use-it way. I use the words "groovy" and "wow" and "smooches" and call everyone "homeboy" and "homegirl" in that same manner. In a sort've ironic way.

But it is everywhere. Everywhere.
Who ever knew that so many women had so much in common with Southern-style rappers?

Okay. Just had to say that. You do what you must.

I'll just be over here trying to get L'il Wayne outta my head.

"Every time I come around yo city,

Bling, bling."

My Blog's All Messed Up...

I'll fix it tomorrow.

Tomorrow is another day.

Update On John Mayer Tickets

I never did say whether I got good tickets to JM's concert or not. I didn't have a chance to get online while at work that day, so I had to wait until I got home.
The concert I'm going to is at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, CA and the presales were for the 100s and 200s sections. I was able to get in the very last row of Section 101...so still in "the good seats", at least.

It'll be a nice summer evening concert and I can't wait!

My New Banner, Finally!

Okay, so I'm no graphic designer genius, but it's not too bad for my first effort, right? Actually I'm no graphic designer at all, just a new Paint Shop Pro user and elements from Bannerwoman Design's - Keep It Real kit.
You can find this kit and many more at her website, Bannerwoman.com


I'm also using this design at my,
shop, but it could still be resized a bit...I'm just wiped out, I've been working on this all day.

So...yeah, yeah, happy dance, happy dance.
Okay, I'm off to bed!

I Feel Naked!

I'm currently messing around with my blog banner, so bare with me as I go bannerless for a bit.

Membership Has Its Privileges...Hopefully!

I just joined Local-83, John Mayer's fan club, in the hopes of getting some most excellent tickets tomorrow during the membership presale. We usually do get decent seats but I want to be thisclose. :D

Wish me luck! Cross your fingers and toes!

I've Been Tagged! x2

Two online shop and blog friends have tagged me in recent days so I thought I would combine the two together in one post to catch up! My first set of taggers are fellow Etsy Cottage Style members and the sisters behind the etsy shopRicRacSally, selling "vintage and retro style trappings". Check 'em out!

I'm to list 6 items of random trivia about myself and then pass it on to 6 more people.

Sooo, here's my 6:

1. The last movie I saw in the theater was "Dreamgirls".


2. I adore avocadoes and will eat them on or with anything. Would I eat them in a box? Yes, I would eat them in a box. {Dr. Seuss reference, if you're wondering. It's not that funny if I have to explain, is it? :D }


3. My vices are coffee and sweets. If I had to choose, I would give up the sweets. Try to take away my coffee. I dare you. My favorite ice cream is even coffee flavored. Last night I ate a coffee flavored Twix...the best of both worlds. Yum.


4. I have a "thing" for John Mayer and have seen him twice in concert. I would travel around in a bus following him on tour if I could.


5. My husband does all the grocery shopping and cooking for our family. I am a very lucky girl.


6. I have two tattoos. One is a green butterfly on my upper back to commemorate my cousin's 13 y.o. daughter who passed away from Niemann-Pick disease in 2006. Under the butterfly it says "perseverance" which is the foundation's motto and has become my life motto, as well. My second one is a small red heart on my left inner wrist. My sister, mother and oldest daughter all have matching ones that we got together last year.

Part Deux:

I've also been tagged by Shana over at Crossroads Cottage. I originally discovered her while browsing through Blog Catalog and found that she and I have a lot in common when it comes to decorating tastes. She also has a really cute website, Cordially Invited by Crossroads Cottage, selling cottage-inspired party and home decor.

She has a list of 13 questions to answer. You may be finding out more about me than you ever wanted to in one day. :D

1. Name your two favorite scrapbooking topics. It has been so long since I have scrapped anything. Lately I've been using my paper stash and scrapbooking supplies for other craft projects, such as the basic tags I attach to my shop packages. Speaking of my tags...I need to take a new photo, I've "tweaked" them a bit and they've gotten cuter, if I do say so myself, LOL. Still keeping with the "simple" aesthetic though.

2. What are two of the best places you have been to? I love the ocean so my favorite place has been a resort called Marina Dunes that my husband and I stayed at a couple of years ago for our anniversary. Sooo beautiful! It's in Marina, CA, right before Monterey. My second place? Hmmm...I'm a bit of a homebody, to tell the truth. Oh, another little vacation with my husband and another couple, we rented a gorgeous cabin in Lake Tahoe, CA and the best moments of the trip were hanging out in the outdoor hot tub surrounded by a backyard of snow and pine trees while it gently snowed. That hot tub in that setting, with a nice cocktail in my hand, was one of the best places I'd ever been.

3. Name two things you do every day. Make coffee and get on my computer.

4. Name two things that pretty much everyone knows about you. I know a little bit about a lot of things and I'm an avid reader. Actually, these things go hand-in-hand.

5. Name two places you wish to visit. Paris and Hawaii.

6. Two things you may not know about me are: I was voted "Best Hair" in eighth grade and I skipped third grade. :D It's all I could think of...boring!

7. Name two nick-names you have had sometime in your life. Baby, Kel.

8. Name two interesting jobs (good or bad) that you have had. My medical assistant externship at a county hospital in my early 20s was really interesting! I floated around working in the various outpatient clinics and saw many, many interesting things. One highlight was assisting two doctors with a patient who had horrible abcesses due to iv drug abuse...incredibly gross procedure to lance them, but also incredibly fascinating.

My current "real" job with the Postal Service can be labeled "interesting" being that it's the traditionally male position of custodian. I'm the general "fix it, clean it" person for a local post office. It's my second position in the 12 years I've worked for the Postal Service and a big change that I was not initially thrilled about, but it works for my family and I'm enjoying the freedom I have to determine my day's work.

9. What are your top two fun things to do after work? After work I'm pretty wiped out, so my favorite things to do are veg. out on my computer and watch TV.

10. Name two things you would like to learn. I'm currently in the process of one thing, website design/HTML coding. Another is learning to speak French fluently. I took a semester way back when in high school and loved it, but never went any further.

11. What were the last two songs that you downloaded or CDs that you bought? The last two CDs were by Paramore and Silversun Pickups.

12. What were the last two books that you read? Martha Stewart's The Martha Rules: 10 Essential For Achieving Success and Antique Trader Antiques and Collectibles 2008 Price Guide.

13. What two TV shows or movies from your childhood do you still enjoy watching after all of these years? I don't tend to watch much older stuff on my own(I'm always watching HGTV) but my husband LOVES watching old sitcoms whenever he's not watching sports, so I get sucked into watching The Jeffersons, Good Times and Three's Company.

Now, who am I going to tag? I'm out of time this morning, so I'll leave that as a cliffhanger and get back to you. :D

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