Browsing tag: blogging

Boy, am I glad this week is over. The one good thing was…making the best chocolate chip cookies ever. And another thing which I won’t mention for fear of jinxing it.

To this week’s roundup, aka, my pick of the blogosphere:

LIFE

Jane asks whether you had pushy or laidback parents, and wonders whether she needed more of a kick up the butt from hers.

Revanche plays hostess and wonders what good hosting etiquette entails.

Karen at Living Well on Less on the downsides (real side?) of pregnancy.

My Pretty Pennies is starting a wedding fund. While that sounds like a great idea – weddings don’t come cheap – I think my travel fund has to come first. The wedding fund will just have to wait…perhaps slotted in before a house fund?

And on that note, Lacey wonders why people all too often label a wedding “the most important day of her life”. (To which I say, preach it. I’m sure getting married will be a blast, and a huge milestone occasion, but it’s just one day.)

Stephany gets some perspective and reminds herself how lucky she is to be healthy and able-bodied. For a hater of exercise like me, this really hit home.

Jenny from Dinner: A Love Story pens a love post to coffee dates.

Are you part of the smartphone brigade? Carrie Actually has some advice for iPhone users.

Stone Soup’s Jules presents a minimalist guide to cooking with herbs.

Katie asks what you would want your ideal autobiography to read like. (Yes, it starts off with a picture of Justin Bieber, but it’s for a reason). How about well-travelled and wildly successful in love, work, and the kitchen? Seriously, that would be great. Unfortunately, it’s not that easy.

Average Girl has some hilarious advice for surviving high school. Ah, how I don’t miss it. Although, jeez, life was a hell of a lot simpler sometimes. (Although if you read one of the trillion songs I penned back then, it might not seem that way.)

On that note…Not That Kind of Girl finds love and shares a poem written by her 12-year-old self.

Oooh, and Ninja shares his and Girl Ninja’s love story. AWWW.

WORK / CAREER / MONEY (that’s right, all three in one)

Well Heeled on pinching pennies, yet justifying splurges.  (Guilty)

Little House on the Prairie has a guest post from fellow blogger Jennifer Lou on quitting her job at Google and finding a new path.

Rachel (not Rebecca) asks whether you would leave your city for Just Another Job, if it would get you one step closer to your real dream.

Rainy Day Saver has some tips for freelancing through networking.

Working Girl asks which Sex and the City character you’re most like.

Finally Ramit Sethi, founder of I Will Teach You To Be Rich, guest blogs for J Money about why you should ignore traditional advice when starting a business.

MONEY

Here’s a thought: thinking about money in terms of saving for opportunities, rather than emergencies (I think this is how I’m going to frame matters to BF in future!)

Fired and Fabulous tracks her spending for a week – something I might do here soon for kicks.

Little Miss Moneybags continues her how-to series, this time sharing some ideas for saving on housing in NYC.

As Airam finds out, diligently tracking expenses isn’t all that useful if you’re not reviewing what you’re doing.

Meg tries out grocery shopping and marvels at the possibilities. (It’s amazing, in my eyes, that someone could eat out for the majority of their meals!)

And finally, Well Heeled offers some suggestions for talking yourself out of spending.

LIFE

Lilu presents a definitive guide for anyone who’s lost their boyfriend/dream job/puppy.

Fabulously Broke reflects on her time in Paris and how the culture differs from Canada.

Carlee reckons that despite being frail, she’s getting stronger – both physically and mentally. (Yes, paper cuts hurt! I, too, am a wimp; bruise easily and get sick every winter. I consider myself in touch with my body.)

Girl Normal’s thoughts on grad school, and trying to follow a field you like but aren’t necessarily good at.

Amy at Just a Titch turns biker babe and takes a shine to it.

Coincidence: I mentioned banh mi bale sandwiches earlier this week, and guess who posted a Vietnamese sandwich recipe? YUM.

Gem muses on life, relationships and money all in one post (and hits basically everything I’ve been thinking about lately)

Not That Kind of Girl writes to some jailbirds (and if you want to partake, you can)

Like me, Jess has some serious photo anxiety, and speaks out to share her pain. She’s also looking for advice on whether she should move apartments to save money.

Amber blogs about a situation where it’s best not to set expectations.

Pushing Thirtyy wonders when some of her peers will ever grow up. Something I wonder a lot, although to be fair, we’re at the other end of our 20s.

“Acknowledge online life as real, and the Internet’s transformative potential opens up” (Gold to an online addict such as myself). The Harvard Business Review compiles ten reasons to stop apologising for your online life.

And on that note…What kind of social media user are you? Find out here.

WORK

PR Working Girl offered some insight into a good week at her job, which sparked a little bit of debate. Us journos couldn’t help but respond to her comment about reporters taking a different angle from press statements (which of course, if you’re serious about getting coverage, should always be geared towards a newsworthy angle)

Ever wondered what it’s like to be a bouncer? Well, Social Diary details what it feels like to be a doorbitch. (I’m not sure I’d recognise Robert De Niro, either)

Financial Samurai asks why the employed among us are so smug about the unemployed.

Neurotic Workaholic offers an insight into the world of academia.

For US residents, New Grad Life has tips for anyone thinking of joining the civil service (ie, government jobs).

Penelope Trunk on why you should befriend interns (strange twists of fate have seen me strike up friendships with a handful of third year journalism students; makes me feel simultaneously wise and decrepit) as well as tips for leaving a job.

Debt Ninja asks how quickly you could replace your income if you lost your job today – a terrifying thought. I really don’t think it would be all that soon, so I’m glad my job is about as stable as I could hope for in this field.

J Money on the cheapest way to travel the world (My mum once worked for an airline, but in the accounting department. She still got to travel some, though. But working as a flight attendant sounds brutal!)

Jenny on being the woman who always leaves work on time to catch the same train, no matter what.

Hope you all had fabulous weekends!

MONEY

Budgeting for Happiness? Working Girl on her money matrix and how she decides to spend her top, bottom and inbetween dollars.

Rae has some tips for budget-conscious beauty junkies.

Little Miss Moneybags explains how she saves on groceries in NYC.

Red ponders the possibility of getting a second job to pay down her debt faster – perhaps not a decision that’s as easy as it sounds.

Mindy wonders if going to grad school is worth going into debt for.

Debt Hater on tithing and why she saves to give away.

LIFE

Hannah Katy reminds us not to judge others – not the homeless man who sits by my bus stop, or the cleaners I pass on my way out of work. (Am I the only person who gets incredibly depressed sometimes, seeing people doing those jobs? I hate to think of them slaving for minimum wage; but I suppose if those jobs became automated, they might be even worse off if they can’t work.)

Meg spends a week detoxing her budget, body and self.

Not That Kind of Girl tries to help out some hobos, and gets rejected.

Neurotic Workaholic blogs on the competitiveness of, well, blogging, and the quest for followers.

The NonStudent explains why you shouldn’t let, er, an 80-something hobag make you cry. (Kinda reminds me of when a friend’s friend blatantly called me on my lack of a chest at their pool.)

Kevin shares some divine looking Cuban burgers and recipe.

WORK

New Grad Life suggests a new approach to resume writing (hint: it involves acronyms!)

Finally, Social Diary delves into the art of the canape and other catering tips for planning an event.

Happy weekends, everyone!

(From now, I will split these posts into categories to make them a little more organised. Let me know if you love it/hate it/have a better idea!)

MONEY
Sense blogs about work expenses – just how much should employees be expected to shoulder in costs?

J Money wonders if coupon and deal sites are really worth it. While I can see how it would be tempting to spend on stuff you don’t normally buy, but I’m generally looking to maximise our discretionary spending money (in terms of places to eat and things to do) and this is one way to do it.

Financial Samurai is getting closer to launching yakezie.com!  And he’s looking for people to step up as leaders.

LIFE
Not That Kind Of Girl becomes an early-morning runner, and survives.

PR Working Girl goes to her 10 year reunion and regrets it.

Rae has a great post on menstrual cups (always nice to hear from someone else who actually knows how inconvenient bad periods can be). I’m slowly gathering the courage to try them at some point.

Amber and her boyfriend are taking a leap of faith – he’s moving to her town without a job a lined up. I wish you both the best of luck.

A super simple mayonnaise recipe at Stone Soup that I really want to try once we get a blender/processor.

Revanche moves in with her other half (or more accurately, finally blogs about it after who knows how long :P)

Kara is househunting. I’m trying not to be jealous. (Surprisingly, it’s kind of working. Does that mean I’m becoming a better person?)

Airam reviews the Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, etc). I am definitely intrigued. Speaking of books, I finally read the Lovely Bones. It was AMAZING.

Molly continues the retelling of her birth story. I was simultaneously intrigued yet repulsed.

Marian goes to prison (actually a detainment centre, but that doesn’t rhyme nearly as well).

Not So Ex Grad Student on compromise in relationships. “I don’t want to wake up one day ‘unsatisfied,’ assume that this feeling is an indication that something is wrong with the relationship itself (rather than recognizing life’s ebb and flow of happiness), convince myself I’m compromising, and walk away from it. I don’t want to blame any lacking I feel on my relationship when there simply are times when I will not have what I want, when I want it,” she says.

WORK

Speaking of compromise, Brunette on a Budget’s husband is turning down a major job offer in hope of one that will give them better work-life balance. Go and read it.

Also, don’t miss her post on the perfect day job for a writer – a job which she got, and accepted, by the way! “It doesn’t have to centre around writing full-time – in fact, I would actually prefer it didn’t. In an ideal world I would preserve my writing juice for other, more personal projects (like blogging, I say!)… The occasional article/column/blog post (with byline) at work would make me happy,” she writes. That is EXACTLY my thinking. I don’t know how or when Crystal crawled into my headspace. Also, I used to think ghostwriting (well-paid, of course) sounded tolerable, but her experience has made me rethink that view…

On a more practical note, FB presents some great Pre-Presentation Preparations.

And Rachel has six Powerpoint tips for young professionals. What are some of yours?

Pear manages to get a discount AFTER making her purchase. Find out how!

Fabulously Broke discovers the magic of Bundle and posts a fascinating breakdown of the aggregated data – spending by demographic. Speaking of Bundle..I loved this post asking how often you check your account balance.

“But even though I have a rough idea of how much money is in my account at all times, I absolutely dread actually checking the real thing. I have to force myself to sign in, and I’m bracing myself for impact as soon as it loads; it’s basically a form of torture. I think the fear is that somehow I’ll have miscalculated, or forgotten about some check I wrote a million years ago, and that I’ll be in the red. Even when I use the ATM, I turn away when it shows me how much money is left in my account, and I throw away my receipts without looking at them!” (Oh, how I laughed, because I am the same way. Anyone else?)

Amber bemoans the cost of groceries (I agree wholeheartedly) and Jules at Stone Soup shows us how to eat for $2 a day. I hate broccoli, but the omelette looks deeeeelish.

Greer asks how much you pay for haircuts? I don’t think I’ve ever paid more than about $30. That being said, I’ve never coloured my hair. What about you?

FruGal has some great tips for eating frugally while seeing Europe. I hope to be able to use her advice one day…

Ninja asks what skills you have that save you some coin (Up until our last move, we’d never paid for a truck or moving company, either. But it was worth it!)  Sadly, I have very few practical skills. BF is awesome in the kitchen and reasonably handy mechanically (great when you have an old car).  I guess I’m naturally frugal and willing to spend the time researching to get the best deal?

Speaking of car troubles, that’s exactly what derailed Katie this week. As always, she puts things in perspective –  “Talk about first world problems.”

Miss Minimalist weighs up the pros and cons of city vs country life (No contest, it’s city life – although preferably suburban life, to be precise – for me. The longest I’ve ever spent away from the city was a week in Whakatane last year, but aside from that, I’ve only managed a few days at a time for brief holidays, be they beach or snow getaways. Watching Gilmore Girls made me long to live somewhere like Stars Hollow and maybe one day that might be nice, but I’m a born and bred urban dweller)

Revanche encounters a kindly taxi driver. In a similar vein, I introduced BF to Kohu Road ice cream this week – the BEST  ice cream/sorbet you will ever have, super pure and  made from premium ingredients. Recommended: the golden syrup and the coconut rum. And for something different, the dark chocolate sorbet. After letting us sample at least half of the flavours, we were given one of our cones free simply because of a slightly messy scoop.

Meanwhile, Lacey has been kicking it in Europe, and most recently Prague. Check out her amazing photos (they even visited an ossuary!)

Nicole Antoinette muses on having the freedom to change and learning to like sushi. (I, too,  recall vowing never to eat either seaweed or raw fish…many years ago. Guess I have to eat those words.)

Stephany blogged about all the reasons she’s proud to be American – lump in the throat stuff. (And I’m not even from the US).

Working Girl has some tips on how she’s starting to make friends post-college. Hint: Just get out there! Say yes to invites, or you’ll never meet anyone.

Finally, LiLu reviews Avatar and finds it lacking. But she has a picture of Apa, my favourite bison. Also, you should vote for her in the MTVTJ search for MTV’s first Twitter Jockey.

Phew! What a bumper roundup. Hope you made it to the end!

I’ve already covered why I blog in the past. What I’ve been thinking about, though, is whether this has an end-date on it.

And to be honest, I can’t see myself stopping anytime soon

BF doesn’t understand blogging; he thinks it’s absurd, to say the least, that I like to read about other people’s lives. But great blogging isn’t about diarising. I’ve stopped reading blogs that only post spending reports and chronicle tired tips on frugality; I eschew bloggers who spend most of their time recounting their weekends without ever offering food for thought. As a wise blogger once said, eventually the best writers move from straight recordings of their lives, to introspection and looking forward.

People fascinate me. I’m a bit of a social retard, it’s true. (And while awkwardness can be endearing in a guy, the same is never true of a woman.) But blogging removes that physical dimension, and I’m in my element. I love to read about dilemmas, decisions, relationships…sharing in others’ milestones and commiserating when things don’t go their way. I love to know there are people out there going through the same things as me; people who voice my thoughts in far more concise and eloquent terms than I ever could.

You guys rock. Don’t stop, and I won’t either.

Financial Samurai presents his case for why the West Coast kicks the East Coast’s butt. Seriously entertaining (not to mention convincing) and makes me very glad to be over my starry-eyed New York phase! I still want to visit the Big Apple, but I am just as eager to visit California (home to lovelies like Revanche, Well Heeled and many more).

Me in Millions welcomes summer. What I wouldn’t give for sun, sea and sandals right now. I detest extreme heat – would never live in the tropics – but I’m not a fan of winter at all.

Jamie reflects (hilariously) on the things she doesn’t understand. To that list, I will add cars, currency and foreign exchange, and the Middle East. Seriously, I’ve been trying to educate myself on this ever since Gaza hit the news post-flotilla incident, but it’s effing hard when everyone has such strong opinions one way or another.

Fabulously Broke points out a nifty little Google Chrome dictionary addon. That is SERIOUSLY cool and almost makes me want to convert!

Melissa pays homage to the kiwifruit (or as northern hemisphere dwellers simply say, “kiwi”) and sneaks in a sly diss of the papaya, which I consider one of the tastiest things nature ever came up with. Oh yeah, and this is a kiwifruit spoon (spife).

Continuing on in the food vein, Pear waxes lyrical about salads – like me, raw veggies just weren’t on the menu in her household. Sadly, all my favourite salads are the kinds with less vegetable and more dressing (or potato).

Finally, Katie’s sage take on moving up the career ladder: sometimes you just gotta wait your turn. That rung very true for me. And on that topic, from time to time I find myself managing other staff. It’s bizarre, and I’m thankful I don’t have to do too much of it – I’m not sure how good I am at it. I’m always polite and try to be encouraging as much as possible, but I am not cut out to supervise!