Another "I Should Have Thought of That" Moment

Here's what my blog page looks like on Bloglovin.

Our cool neighbors were over last night.  You know the ones.  Matt, who gave us step by step directions on how to make mind blowing Butter Poached Lobster Rolls and his wife Sandra who saved us huge coin by showing us how to make our own Body Sugar Scrub.  (By the way, don't hold me to it, but the rumor is that Matt is going to give us his Corn Chowder recipe very soon.) We were talking blogging and tweeting and Instagram followers and all that jazz and Sandra says, "Do you have your blog on Bloglovin?"  <insert "Wendy looks like Bambi lined up in front of a semi truck at midnight stare" here>  "Ummmm.  No.  What is it?"  She tells me it's a blog reader.  Like, it will aggregate all of the blogs you follow into one place and you just go there to see your favorites.  What?!  That exists?  

This is my feed of the blogs I've chosen to follow.  Totally awesome, right?

Off I went (with Matt and Sandra sitting at my kitchen counter) to go check this site out.  And sure enough - it's awesome.  Like, really awesome.  There's The Bloggess. And The Whole Smiths.  And The Pioneer Woman.  And some others I'd never even heard of.  It's like blog Utopia.  
Go check it out.  No really.  Right now.  Here's the link to this blog (yes, this very one you're reading right now). And then go follow The Bloggess and The Whole Smiths and whomever else you'd like.  
Ok, I've got to go.  I have a lot of blog reading to do. Plus I need to go bang my head against a wall because I didn't create this awesomeness called Bloglovin.  I know I should have save this for this Friday's Quickie.  But I couldn't wait to share it with you.  Now, shoo and go read some blogs. And you're welcome.

 

Much Shorter Than Gilligan's Three Hour Tour.

The Lake at sunset.

I make friends wherever I go.  In the grocery store line.  At a restaurant.  At the YMCA.  At the DMV.  Waiting at a stoplight (that's only happened once).  Rarely though, do I find that I make friends online.  I have friends that are online, but most always I already knew them and these days use the web as a means of keeping up with them.  

Smitty and Lark hanging on the dock.  Well, Smitty was having to just hang out.  Lark was doing her best impression of an otter all weekend, as usual.  

But this is a crazy world in which we live and things are changing all the time.  For example - this blog.  If you'd told me a few months ago that I'd be writing and posting regularly to a blog, I would have said no way.  No time.  Who's going to read it?  What would I even write about.  But look at that.  I have a blog.  I write when there's a spare moment (which is often after 11pm) and it's a bit unorthodox (sitting in front of the TV maybe with my laptop on my lap).  But I write because it's a creative outlet for me, I seem to stumble across cool stuff that I think other folks might like to know about and crazy stuff seems to happen to me on a regular basis.  All good blogworthy stuff.  A bit neurotic and all over the place, but blogworthy in my mind (and maybe that's the problem) nonetheless.  

This was our Friday night and the very glowy-like figure at the front of the stage is Lyle Lovett, not a ghost.  Although there could be ghosts nearby, since we were at the ATL Botanical Gardens next to Piedmont Park in Atlanta and I'm sure there was a battle there once upon a time.  It's Atlanta after all.  

In starting out this blog, I decided I wanted to see where I could take it beyond just my friends and family (those kinds souls that are stuck reading the crap I write and don't have a choice).  With a gentle push from a good friend who said, "Hey, you needed to know how to make homemade dog food.  Someone else likely needs to know too," I jumped in with both feet and started to try and find ways to expand my audience.  

The view from our dock this weekend.

I have other blogger friends (yes, I also admit you may read other blogs other than mine.  It's ok - you and I have an open relationship.), so I asked around about what they were doing.  And one friend (both real and online), Michelle (you know her as the inventor of the Friday VHH and maker of all things yummy at The Whole Smiths), invited me to join a blogging group on Facebook.  Through that group I've found lots of help, new ideas and great support.  It's through that group that I've been taken underwing and introduced around.  And made some new friends.

Amy from Stow & Tell You

One blogger, Amy E of Stow & Tell You has done one better that just giving me some advice.  She introduced me last week on her blog.  It's what we bloggers like to call a Blogland tour.  Unlike Gilligan's little excursion (please tell me you all know who I'm talking about when I say Gilligan.  He had his own island/show for goodness sake.) this is quick and you don't get stuck anywhere.  Unless your computer hangs on you.  But that's probably because you have a virus or some creepy spy wear or you have WAY too much music on there.  Not because of the tour. 

VHH Cocktails ATL style compliments of The Whole Smiths whole (craft)cocktail recipe this week.

So anyway, while I've been working on the new storefront, learning how to make a sugar wrap to heal wounds and Virtual Happy Hour-ing with The Whole Smiths, she was exposing my blog to her followers.  I'd like to return the favor and ask you to click the link above to her blog and go check her out.  
She's got the DIY thing down!  I'm envious of all of the projects in her project gallery.  She makes it all look so easy!  I've got a few ideas of hers that are on my "I'm going to try it list" now.  And she's been blogging for a while with a great following.  Something else of which I'm envious.  So go check out her blog and then come back and leave me a comment and let me know what DIY projects you might want to try now.  Maybe we can do them together!

Lark is contemplating if she can paddle board AND carry the ball at the same time (she's very ball focused).  Smitty is contemplating why he has to have a sister that wants to chase balls all the time.

And because it's good to pay it not only forward but backwards sometimes too (even if I do get confused about which is which), I'll be introducing a couple of my other blogger friends to you guys in the coming days.  Stay tuned for that.  The Labor Day Weekend may have snuck up on them but we'll be hearing from them soon.

The Hubbs and his four legged mini-me.  They do remind me of one another often.

Until then, get back outside and go enjoy the remaining days of summer.  The Hubbs, Smitty and Lark say Happy Labor Day for those of you in the US and Happy Monday to the rest of you.  I've included a few photos from our Labor Day Weekend just for fun and to completely throw you off, since there really aren't good photos to go along with talking about why I blog and the Blogland Tour thingy.  Think of it as a mini photo tour.  That's two tours in one, folks.
You're welcome.