I have lots of great pictures and tidbits from today’s neighborhood outing but a few in particular that I can’t wait to share. We stumbled upon a pet adoption event on 7th Avenue today and saw these little cuties hanging out in the cages:

Adam and I happen to be in the market for a kitty (a boy in particular). A friend for leggy, another buddy for us… So we took one home with us in a lovely Cosmic Pet Shuttle purchased across the street. Meet Amigo, our new kitty cat:

So right now, we have Amigo shut up in the bedroom and leggy has the rest of the apartment to roam around.  She is not too happy by the way… But here’s to hoping that she will come around and be a good big sister for Little Amigo.  Meow Meow for now…

Friday morning’s Mediapost Center for Media Research article was actually interesting this week! I read these via my work e-mail and usually scroll through without actually digesting any information. For once though, I still remembered the point of the article, hours after I first opened it up. Way to go me.

The article, titled Women Would Sacrifice Almost Anything But Chocolate For Blogging included data from a study done by BlogHer & Compass Partners. Numbers aren’t my bag but it is nice to know that over 36MM women are actively participating in blogging, whether it be by writing, reading, or commenting on blogs.

And then there was the fun part of the study (can be found in the additional highlights section after all of the charts and schtuff)… They asked women if they would give up certain things to keep the blogs they read and write. Check this out:
Out of the women surveyed (more than 6K ladies)…

• 55% would give up alcohol
• 50% would give up their PDAs
• 42% would give up their i-Pod
• 43% would give up reading the newspaper or magazines
• only 20% would give up chocolate

Interesting, no? About half of the women will give up alcohol, PDAs, iPods, and magazines, but only 20% would say goodbye to chocolate! So how important is blogging to these women, really? Or, maybe I should be asking how important are Snickers Bars and chocolate ice cream? Maybe I’m biased, not really being a chocoholic, but I find this all a bit strange. And more would give up alcohol? I’d rather swear off M&Ms, chocolate cake, and brownies, than wine. Definitely.

The rest of the study was less surprising. Blog loving ladies watch less TV, read fewer newspapers/magazines, and consider blogs a good source of info/advice. And their purchases are influenced by blogs.. etc etc.

Personally, I have recently become re-addicted to blogs (mostly as a reader but I also try to do my thing). I can hardly keep up with the various RSS feeds I am subsribed to and I love finding new blogs that interest me (or in some cases captivate me). And I’m all over the place when it comes to categories. I read food blogs, media blogs, tech/geeky blogs, design/fashion blogs, funny cat blogs, artsy/crafty blogs, personal blogs, and of course, Brooklyn blogs! My favorites tend to be topical but with anecdotal/personal bits interwoven
Here are some of the blogs I would give up chocolate for:

Brooklyn Blogs:

• Brooklynometry - The first BK blog I fell in love with. Amarilla’s pictures and stories have taught me a lot about the neighborhood. Lots of relevant, local, info and some fun stories thrown into the mix. And for me, this blog has the perfect post-frequency. I can keep up with every single entry without doing the speed-reading thing!
• Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn - OTBKB, written by Louise Crawford, is a good source for BK & Park Slope info. There is also a daily photo. Frequent posting so I sometimes have to skim but love how this blog keeps me in the know.
• Nathan Kensinger Photography - The photos pretty much speak for themselves. Great pictures of mostly abandoned spots (which I’ve always had a thing for.. going back to my Kings Park Psych days… *sigh*).

Webby Blogs:

• A Tasty Blog Snack - Tasty indeed. iJustine pokes fun at everything interactive. Lots of vlogging too, something I would be ridiculously awkward at but she’s a pro. Also fun to follow via twitter @ijustine.
• Just Creative Design - I’m not really a web designer or graphic designer, but like to read up on it all at this blog. I have some aspirations though.. And I’m going to be taking Photoshop and Flash classes soon so I gotta keep myself updated! Twitter too @justcreative.
• AttentionMax - I found Max Kalehoff’s blog after reading his MediaPost Online Spin column at work. He’s a smart guy and definitely has much more experience in the industry than I. So, this one is a good one for me. A lot of marketing/media blogs are boring for me, but this one I like. And following on twitter (@maxkalehoff).

Personal Blogs:

• Dooce - So this one is a popular “Mommy blog” written by Heather Armstrong. When I say popular, I mean she was just on The Today Show on NBC for it! Anywho, a great writer with an awesome sense of humor. And 2 adorable pups and 1 extra adorable daughter named Leta. There has been some criticism about Mommy blogs (some even call is child abuse) but I respect what she is doing. Great photographs too.
• Jayesel - I used to visit muted.com back in the day and when I came back to www-life I was testing all of my old links to see if anyone was still out there. Jen of muted.com now keeps blog at jayesel.net. It’s a personal blog (guess you could call it a mommy blog if you want, whatever) and I’m enjoying it. Personal blogs are a peek into other peoples’ lives and… I like peeking.

Foodie blogs:

• Noble pig - A great great foodie blog with amazing look recipes (with step by step pictures!!). Also lots of posts to about wine, which I love learning more about. And non-food posts too (bonus!). Cathy is another blogger that writes well and has something very important… a sense of humor.
• A Cat in the Kitchen - Another good foodie blog. Great recipes, and pictures, and some cats here and there, meow. Looking forward to more of this blog.
• Smitten Kitchen - I am smitten with this blog and all of the great recipes posted (mouth-watering pictures included).
• Not Eating Out NY - Great concept behind this blog - not eating out in NY. We all know how expensive that gets… so lots of recipes for making your own fabulous meals. Health factor & green factor are calculated as well. Fun fun fun.
• Annnnd there are a ton of other great food blogs I try to keep up with via RSS (thank goodness for RSS man) including: Piggy’s Cooking Journal, Cooking with Amy, The Girl Who Ate Everything, Blake Makes, Cook Sister!, Food Mayhem, Simply Recipes, etc. My mom says I have a love affair with food (duh) and I guess the affair extends to food blogs as well. There are really so many of them out there. So, a great tool is Food Blog Search in case you are looking for something specific (i.e. a meat pie recipe).

And some others:

• A Fanciful Twist - Vanessa Valencia is a very talented artist/crafter and I LOVE LOVE LOVE her blog. I actually found it randomly doing some google searches for my old domain fanciful.net. It didn’t take long at all for this to become one of my absolute favorite destinations on the web. Take a look and you will see for yourself. Beautiful pictures and colors and fancy abound! Fancifulness at it’s best. Also be sure to visit the etsy shop. I am eyeing some really cool prints she has up for sale. So good.
• Fashion is Spinach - I’m not huge into fashion and I don’t have great clothes or anything, but this girl does. I love her style- lots of great vintage dresses and cute accessories. Maybe one of these days I’ll score myself a great vintage dress… I do live in BK after all.
• Happy Mundane - “There’s beauty in your dishsoap” is the blogs tag line and almost enough of a description. Lots of simple, delightful design and decor. Happy happy. Lots of stuff I can’t afford to run and buy (for now) but I enjoy all the same.

And if anybody made it to the bottom of this, cool. I think you get the point. Lots of women are into blogs. As am I. And I could definitely give up the chocolate to keep on reading these.  However ridiculous that idea is!

Little Freakplant from Vanessa on Vimeo.

Cats make the funniest little noises when they have their eyes on a birdie outside the window. This video is Eggplant freaking out yesterday morning. I love it! She has since returned to normal, sort of . Enjoy!

So far today has been one hell of a lazy Sunday. Bagel breakfast, Sand & Sorrow documentary film, cooking Miso Soup with Udon & Somen noodles, and of course a few episodes of Sex and the City (for which Adam left the room). A few episodes in the HBO on Demand froze up, on the above image. Though I was annoyed I was also excited to see Carrie’s crochet sweater - a colorful array of Granny Squares made with flower-like centers!

This past Christmas I stole a blankie from my Aunt’s house, that she had worked on awhile back, and left incomplete. This blankie has a similar patterned square as Carrie’s shirt- the Granny square with a flower center and the individual squares crocheted together rather than stitched. Here are some pictures of the once put aside project:

Eventually, I’d like to pick up where my Aunt left off on this, or even better, work on it with her. She actually found some of the original yarn as well, so if there is enough of that, we won’t even have to hunt down a similar yarn to use.  I imagine we’ll add on a few more rows and finish off the loose ends, maybe add a border.  It will make a nice lap blanket or a child’s blankie.

BUT… In the meantime, I still have a few regular Granny Squares to crochet for the blanket I am attempting! Right now the Square count is up to….64!

You can get a better look at one of the squares below (click image for full size).

They aren’t that big, and I wanted to make a bigger blanket this time around.  I calculated that I’ll need about 100-120 squares for a large blanket, so, hey, at least half way there!  Which I’m okay with.  Though I’d like to get to my Aunt’s flowery Granny Square blanket, I’m in no rush.  I like that crocheting is a relaxing hobby, that I can take my time with, slowly working on the pieces of something big and colorful.  And speaking of colorful, here is a picture of my first creation, a medium sized blankie. The whole thing made with one basic stitch, a very pretty, soft yarn purchased at Knit NYC- a bit pricey… but very much worth it. In fact my original blankie, shown below, is keeping my legs warm as I sit here and type this up…

This was taken in 2006 in my Forest Hills studio apartment.  Leggy was a big creep, lurking over the shower while it was in use… My current bathroom sports a shower curtain, thank goodness.  No real issues with that, except the time she was walking between the two curtains and fell into the tub, whilst I was showering… Oh, cats.