Blogs and Friendship

Since the beginning of the year, I have been trying to organize areas of my life a bit better. One area that I started to organize was my digital photos, Internet favorites, and blog subscriptions.

Although I’m not very good at it, I love to take pictures. I’m pretty good about getting the pictures from my camera to my laptop to a folder.  Other than that, it’s just a bunch of pictures that I seldom go back and look at or do anything with for that matter. So I decided to organize my pictures by creating folders for each type of event (i.e. - vacation), and then I created subcategories within each folder (i.e. - Hawaii).  Then to really get organized, I went through each picture and deleted the ‘not so good’ pics.

My Internet favorites was a bit more daunting task since I have tons of favorites! Soon after I started going through them, I realized a lot of the links were outdated or the links were no longer valid. From looking over my favorites list, I realize that ‘my favorites’ are applicable to whatever phase I was going through at a certain period in my life (house hunting, tattoos, hobbies, etc.). Now, onto the blogs…

Organizing my blog subscriptions was the hardest for me. I’ll admit that I have (OK, HAD) over 50 different blogs that I am (was) following. And if you’re a blog follower, you already know that’s a lot of content to read. Especially since some bloggers are more active than other bloggers. (I have a few bloggers that I love to read who post two or three times a day! Maybe one day I’ll get to that level.)

For me, unsubscribing to some of my blogs was kind of like saying good bye to a friend. Once I begin following a blog, I begin to feel like I know the person in a cyberspace kind of sense. I look forward to hearing what happens next in their lives.  And similar to the real world, the friendship continues to develop in some way or it ends for one reason or another.

So, I started going through my list of blog subscriptions in Google Reader.  If I came across a blog and the blogger hadn’t posted anything in 4 – 6 months, I stopped following the blog. This was the hardest for me – selecting unsubscribe.  Especially since before the past 30 days, I was one of ‘those’ bloggers who posted very sporadically. Now I have a greater appreciation for my followers and making certain I keep you in the know.

Now, the ‘4 – 6 months’ timeframe wasn’t a hard and fast rule. Some of the blogs I follow are 3-Day bloggers. These bloggers only blog about the 3-Day so I don’t expect them to blog all year long (although it sometimes feels like the 3-Day should be a never ending event). To be honest, I don’t have expectations for anyone to blog every day since I don’t have time to read blogs every day. I just want you to be there when I need you. Just like a real friendship.

Buddha Bowl

I’m certain by now it’s no surprise that I enjoy shopping (Probably a little too much sometimes). Well, today my Buddha Bowls arrived in the mail!

Who doesn't love a cute box?

It’s kind of a looong story about how I found these bowls, but here it goes…

Somehow I came across an online website called OpenSky. I honestly have no idea how I came across this website, and this could be a case of which came first – the blogger or the website! Well on the website, I could select different people (who become my team) whose online store I wanted to follow. The ‘team' then selects items that they like to showcase in their store. Well I came across a blogger, Kath, who is a registered dietitian and writes a food blog (more on her wonderful food blog later!) and decided to follow her. And this is how I found the Buddha Bowls!

Every now and then OpenSky will give me store credits (I’m sure it’s just a marketing ploy to entice me to make a purchase. And it worked!). After I received a store credit for $10, and I decided to use it to purchase a set of Buddha Bowls. First, I love dishes that are ceramic or made of stoneware. Second, I love unique items and these bowls seemed to be a cool way to eat soup or drink tea or coffee. Thirdly, seeing Kath’s delicious looking creations in the bowls definitely sold me!

See how easy it is to hold the bowl in the palm of my hand?!

Although I have only had ramen noodles in my bowl, I love them! I love the way I can slip my thumb in the handle and then hold the bowl in my hand. The warmth from the bowl just feels comforting and makes me want to snuggle up on my couch in a big blanket! OK, about Kath’s blog….

Kath is an awesome blogger who post several times a day at Kath Eats Real Food. She posts mainly about what she cooks and eats, the bakery that she owns, and remolding her home. Kath is also a great photographer and her pictures will immediately draw you in! And if you like unique plates, bowls and glasses, you will love what she presents her food items in. What I like is that Kath is into healthy eating, although when you look at the items you might not initially think that they are good for you. Overnight oats are one of my favorite things to make. Ah ha… I just figured something out!

The blogger came first! I follow another blog in which the blogger wrote about overnight oats and referenced Kath’s blog. That’s how I first located Kath’s blog. Then once I found out about OpenSky, it was nice to see a familiar name listed and I decided to follow Kath’s online store there. So hopefully you’ll take the time to check out Open Sky and Kath’s blog. Just don’t do it on an empty stomach! You’ve been warned…