My Reader Is OOC

Well my Google Reader is now officially out of control.  Don't believe me?  I have proof.

Can you read that I have 317 new items???? That's crazy!  The reason for that is that tonight I attended DC Blogger Blitz hosted by the fabulous Alison from Long Distance Loving.  I emailed Alison this summer after she wrote a post about sun safety and she was so kind to email me a recommendation for a dermatologist in DC.  Well, we got a chance to meet tonight and speak briefly and let me tell you, she is just as genuine in person as she seems on her blog.  What a sweetheart!  


Alison was kind enough to instigate and plan the whole blogger get together.  She made some fab name tags and directories so all the bloggers could find each other's blogs after the event.  I'm really really excited to start reading some more local-to-me- blogs!  I will also add these lovely blogs to my "DC Bloggers" tab over on the right side of my blog.  I hope you will follow some of these lovely women.  It was great to get out of the house and meet some new folks.


This is the second time I have attended a local bloggers get-together and I have to say that I'm continuously impressed by the bloggers I've met.  Most of the people are so genuine and lovely!   I'm so impressed by these women who can come up with creative and fun content all the time.


I think it is important to remember that when you read a blog, you are only seeing a very small part of someone's life.  I imagine that it can be easy to forget that, especially if you are a blog reader but don't have a blog that you write or edit.  For me, blogging is 100% a fun hobby and I'm so glad that I've been able to make a few "real life" connections with fellow bloggers.  


Cheers to all the bloggers who are now reading along after Blogger Blitz DC!  I hope you will find something worthwhile on this blog. 

I Like My Blog How I Like My Blog

When I read this post by Jenn last week, I was jumping up and down in my mind saying, "yes!!! that is exactly how I feel too!!" Here's what Jenn had to say that was so well put I can't even try to put it in my own words:

Sometimes the pressure to write something great keeps me from writing at all. After doing this blogging thing for more than 3 years, I sometimes feel like I should have evolved into this skilled writer, perfectly parlaying my thoughts and feelings into beautiful words that tug at the heart strings of anyone who reads it and makes everyone want to be my best friend.

And then I get shoved off my high horse for being so pretentious and I remember it’s a blog. It doesn’t have to be anything spectacular. It’s supposed to be fun and a sort of Room of Requirement for me – whatever I need it to be at a a given time, it is.

I absolutely love this for so many reasons.  I started blogging for me and I will continue blogging for me.  I'm so happy it has allowed me to connect with others, but if I get too caught up in blogging what people expect me to blog about, I can literally feel the genuine-ness slipping away. And that's no good for me or for the people who read this blog.  Sometimes you might think what I write about it super boring, and sometimes it might be.  But writing this blog is supposed to be cathartic for me. And if the only people who enjoy reading it are my best friends, that's okay sometimes.  If other people enjoy it too, that's just the icing on the cake. [Yum, cake.] 

Anywho, I say all of this to preface the extremely random post that will follow. 

• I don't think there are many greater feelings in the world than going to sleep with a clean kitchen and waking up to a clean kitchen.  Brings me so much joy to have a fresh start in the morning.  And I can sleep with a dirty kitchen (some people cannot) but only if I am extremely tired. 
• I am totally back on the smoothie train and I'm not sure why I ever got off because this smoothie I'm drinking is deee-lish. I started using frozen fruit instead of fresh fruit (cheaper now that berries are going out of season- at least I think it's cheaper...) and let me just say- YUM.  I love fresh berries but the frozen berries make the smoothie so. cold. without watering the smoothie down with ice.  I'm totally down with that.

• If I don't have my gmail open in the left-most tab of my safari window, I will open another tab because I think it isn't open.  Old habits die hard.
• I'm not sure if it is great or awful that Whole Foods- my most-frequented grocery store- does not sell velveeta. Sometimes there is nothing better on gameday than some velveeta queso. I'm pretty sure there's also little out there worse for your body, so maybe it's not the worst thing. 
• Speaking of velveeta, I recently tried this recipe for cheese dip. I left out the bacon because I didn't have any on hand and didn't want to buy any, but yum-o! The addition of the worcestershire really kicked up the flavor.

via pinterest

• Although I'm not sure that Columbus Day is a holiday that makes a ton of sense, I am very glad I had the day off from work.  I had to write a paper that was due that night and it was so nice to be able to do that without having to work through both Saturday & Sunday- especially since I was working on other papers and projects on those days. The to-do list of a grad student never ends. I know we all feel like that sometimes.
• Speaking of grad school, I'm about to start on my paper about a Congressional hearing and my background noise of choice is season 6 of The West Wing. I know I am such a cliché right now and I couldn't be happier about that. I like what I like. 

One Year

Today, this little blog turns one year old!  I wanted to take today to say "thank you" to all those who read this blog, comment, and take time to let me know that you enjoy reading! 

The past year has taught me a great deal about the online community and the power of connecting with others.  I was thinking about it the other day and I realized that this blog is one of the only things that I make an effort to do just for myself and no other reason!  This blog isn't related to school or organizational responsibilities or work.  It is great to have something that is all my own and that I do just for myself.  It is also great to know that I have committed to this for the past year and have every desire to stay committed in the future. 

I have to admit, sometimes I feel like I am just talking about nothing.  I guess we all have self-doubt from time to time and we all feel like that at times.  Oddly enough, the posts that I write and think are most random and specific only to me are often the posts that get the greatest number of comments.  I really believe that this is a reminder to me that we are all much more similar than we think. 

In this next year, I have some personal goals for myself and for blogging.  I think goals are very important.  I read a LOT of blogs, but my commenting has dropped off recently, especially as the number of hours I spend at work and school increases.  I want to get back to commenting more consistently.  I love commenting and feel that it is a very important part of being a blog reader & author because it increases the personal involvement. 

Beyond that, instead of saying over the next year I want to blog more often (which I do), I think I will leave it at this: in the next year, I want to blog with more heart.  I want to talk about things that are on my heart, however difficult or boring they may seem.  I am a private person, but I also need to learn how to put myself out there a little bit more.  And yes, I know it seems odd to say that, as a blogger,  I still consider myself very private. 

source

When I was a teenager, people told me I had a very tender heart and I always felt that too.  Over the years of college and beyond, I think I have hardened a little bit from life's experiences and trails.  I don't think I'm any worse off from this hardening, but I want to be more open and compassionate going forward.  The truth is, we are all going through something.  I am.  You are.  As you read this, there are problems in your life and things that you are scared and unsure about.  There are people whose feelings you've hurt and there are people who have hurt you too.  One of the greatest things about following blogs is reading about other people's thoughts and perspectives and realizing not that you're the same as someone else, but that you aren't alone. Even though I think we know that rationally, sometimes it is difficult to remember. 

Thanks again for reading along over the past year.  As always, if you have any specific questions for me or ideas for what you'd like to hear about, please leave them in the comments or email me.  

On the Bandwagon

I am the first to admit that I totally jumped on an already happening bandwagon when I decided to start blogging.  My blog's first anniversary is approaching this September, so this blog is still very much a baby in the grand scheme of things.

There are plenty of other times that I jump on the bandwagon.  I try to be original, but I'm also a sucker for word-of-mouth product recommendations and good ideas.  So this post is chock-full of things that you might have already seen on other blogs.  The main reason i'm passing it along here is that I would like to think I have maybe at least two readers who haven't heard about these things elsewhere.  If nothing else, I can trust that my bff will be entertained by this post. (Hi, Court!!)

Okay so first up on this list of things is my Erin Condren planner.  You may have seen these all over twitter or other blogs so I'm not going to go on too much about it.  There's a link up over at The Tichenor Family Blog where a lot of other bloggers have talked about their favorite features of the planner.  I'm really liking mine too.  I have a few things I don't love about it but all in all, its a great product and the online deal I got made it a great product at an even greater price!

Please forgive the phone pictures!

 Here's mine.  The blue post-it is covering my last name.  All the planner covers are personalized which is a lovely detail.  My pattern of choice is the Trelis pattern in "multi" color.  I have to say the planner was much thicker in person than I was expecting, but I'm still enjoying using it.  I'm sure I will enjoy it even more as I learn it, if you know what I mean.

Here are some of the complimentary goodies that were included with my planner.  Little gift labels- some even with my name on it.  Fun, right?

Like the good little SEC fan that I am, the first thing in my planner was the 2011 LSU Football schedule.  Kick off is in twelve days!!

The second thing I have to discuss is a great deal on "call-me cards."  The deal is through minted and is being talked about on many blogs as a "mommy card."  I am not a mom but I still ordered some of these cards and took advantage of the deal!  The deal gets you 25 business cards (a $30 value) for free! I actually ordered 75 cards and my total came to about $23 including shipping. A great deal, in my opinion- especially for the nice design of these cards.

According to Nina and Erin at Blue Eyed Bride have both discussed this deal and you can find all the details on their sites.  I've been meaning to get some "call-me cards" for a while so I'm happy to finally cross that off my list!  It will be nice to have these to hand out to people whether we meet at networking events or through classes. Who knows, perhaps I will be able to hand one out to a potential suitor.  (I WISH!) 

There are some incredibly chic designs to choose from! I am very anxiously awaiting mine in the mail.

Last, but not least, I wanted to link to my pinterest account.  Please do follow me on pinterest- I would love to follow you back! I think you may have to sign in to pinterest before this link will route you to the correct place.

Thats all for now, folks.  Wishing everyone a bright and productive Monday! 

Guest Post: Jenn from Jenn Said What?!

I am so excited to have Jenn here today guest blogging. Blogging is such a wonderful way to meet people and make connections and Jenn is here today to share some ideas about connecting with other bloggers. 

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Hi Katelyn’s friends! I’m Jenn, and I blog over at Jenn Said What?!  I met Katelyn a few years ago while we were both attending a leadership camp in rural Illinois. It was about as much fun as a leadership camp in rural Illinois sounds, but at least I got to meet Katelyn!

I was so excited when I discovered Katelyn had started blogging because it’s been something I’ve done on the regular for over three years now. Three years means a lot of time spent writing, editing and building a community. And of course, the community aspect is my favorite part of blogging.

I’ve met some amazing, wonderful people through blogging. Strong, passionate and fiery women who challenge me and support me every day. I take every opportunity I can to move my friendships offline and hang out IRL. One of my favorite blogging events ever was Bloggers in Sin City this past May.

Imagine going to Las Vegas. Now imagine going to Las Vegas with 55 other bloggers from around the country (and Canada!). Now imagine going to Las Vegas with 55 other bloggers and getting VIP access to all sorts of venues and shows and basically taking over the strip. IT WAS AWESOME.

If you get the chance to go to a blogger meet-up, I highly recommend it. It allows you to put a face to a blog and really build on the relationships that you started online.

Next up for me: speaking at the 20SB Summit in Chicago on August 20 & 21, where I’ll get to see and meet even more of my internet friends. If you’re interested in starting a blog, building the one you have, transitioning into social media as a career or just hearing some inspiring stories, you should DEFINITELY attend. And most importantly, be sure to come say hi to me if you’re there!

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Thank you again, Jenn!!!