One of things I’m loving about Pinterest are the quotes that everyone finds.  I thought I’d share my latest favourite…they all speak to me on different levels at the moment…

And this last one… I think should be my mantra…

So, how lucky am I?  I got nominated for 2 awards this week by 2 of my favourite local mommy bloggers, both of whom I met on a mommies online forum years ago, and I’m so very very pleased they’ve been bitten by the blogging bug… so thanks Fiona and Nicci

I’ve been nominated for the versatile one before, and I’m sorry I can’t actually remember who it was that nominated me… but anyhoo, I’ve decided that tonight will be the night to respond

So apparently how this all works is that when one is nominated, one has to:

1. Choose five (or more) other people who deserve this award and pass it on.
2. Tell 7 facts about yourself.
3. Let the people you gave the award to know.
4. Thank the person who gave you the award.

So here goes…

1. Most of the people nominated by other bloggers have been personal/mommy bloggers, so I’m going to mix it up and add a few blogs that I love reading (and in fact, if they know of me, they’re only aware of my photography blog and not this one), and I know they will never respond but it’s always fun to share blogs that you like reading:

• Emmajanenation:  One of the reasons she’s nominated is her latest blog post has cool chains that I think Fiona would like (I’m always shopping)
• Design to Inspire:  An Aussie blog with the most amazing interiors… I dream about redoing my house every day… much nicer than waiting for a monthly decor magazine
• Color Me Katie:  If you haven’t heard about this blog I’d be amazed but I know that new bloggers will want to find gems like this one so I’m adding her to my list.  She inspires me to think out the box.
• Enjoying the small things:  Love how Kelle portrays her life in photos
• Intermittent Blogger: I met her on the same forum as Fiona and Nicci, and she’s a South African who’s emigrated to New Zealand and also discovered blogging fairly recently
• Three Ring Circus:  Because Tiff is simply awesome and the most amazing mom with the most incredible challenges and I’m in awe of her strength and love.

2.  And now about me.  This is tough cos you guys know so much about me… hmmm… what don’t you know yet…

• My photography has to become more focussed because I’ve realised that I’m not going to be able to do it full-time, so I’m going to be picky about what I decide to do.  A blog post will be coming up soon explaining the change to my packages related to baby shoots.
• I would love to have time to spend time with small businesses and photographers helping them with Social Media.  I spent 20 minutes yesterday in the pet food shop explaining to Mel (the person working there in the evening who was telling me about her FB page about animal adoption and how it’s not working as she thought it would) about Facebook and how it’s not the be-all-and-end-all of Social Media, and eventually I had quite an audience.  Was fun… I like that… I do a lot of that at work, but only they  (and the agencies I work with) know how much I actually know.
• I like connecting people.  I realised this at lunchtime today when I went to get some career coaching with a friend.  I love understanding what everyone does… and realising where they need help and connecting them to other people who can make their lives easier.
• I’ve got my photography workload under control again for now anyway.
• I’m going to the zoo tomorrow, and my kids are going to trail behind me on a shoot for the first time… hopefully they behave… wish me luck
• My aim half way through school was to become a metallurgist.  Yip… can you imagine me in a hardhat every day .  My aim when I went to varsity was to study accounting… thankfully that didn’t work out… ended up studying IT.  Strange how life works sometimes.
• I haven’t read a book in almost 2 years. The thing is, I’m not sure I miss it because I have so many blogs to read, and working where I work has made me quite ADD when it comes to attention span.

3.  Not going to do because I know they won’t respond, this was just fun 

4.  Done that in the first paragraph

One of the things I normally miss when going on holiday is the current news of the goings on in the world.  Not this time however, and it was such a different experience that I needed to blog about it.

OK, you all know how much I love twitter etc, but seriously, it was the only way we got news of what was going on with the world this time.

Twitter peeps tweeted about the political goings on with Malema and the ET debacle etc etc etc as it was happening… then I went looking for more in-depth articles to read up more about it.  And every single time, the best source I found, that was the fastest… with the most comprehensive news… was The Daily Maverick.

Maybe it’s because I follow a few of their journalists on Twitter, so I got the links too… but seriously, the coverage of the current news on that site was phenomenal compared to all the other news sites.

So thanks all my tweeting peeps, and the guys at Daily Maverick, for helping me stay informed.

So now, I’ve subscribed to their First Thing newsletter too… it’s awesome… you get the news that happened overnight in a newsletter when you wake up in the morning!

I saw the link on Mr Lady’s blog, and had to follow… and found this amazing video on a blog that I used to follow and have added to my reader again… which you have to watch too… and have some tissues handy

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8K9s7_k3TM]

It’s awesome, I want to write something like that for my kids, but I can never find the words.  And how awesome is that photography?!

I got this link from Jessica‘s blog.

It’s a compliment engine… just refresh the page for it to give you new compliments! What a feel-good site! I love it!!

http://ourstereo.com/compliment/

To explain how great it is… the first thing it told me when I opened the page “you have lost weight” … I think I’m in love

I haven’t posted in a few days, and I’m not quite ready to review this year like other bloggers are doing, so I thought I’d list a few of my recent bloggy finds that I’ve just had to add to my ever growing reader.

1.  Babytees - ok, this is not a blog, but it’s a new baby t-shirt and babygrow designer that sells the most awesome stuff locally and will ship too   If you’re looking for something different and hip for a new mom then this site is the place to go.  I still need to take photos of the t-shirt I got given for Connor but wow what fabulous quality!

2.  Elle Decoration’s blog – I just love this blog.  I love the photos and the ideas they blog about.  I’m getting great inspiration with the photography they have on the site too.

3.  Kim Gray – She’s a local stylist and OMW I love the stuff she blogs about (it’s not just local stuff but she links to a lot of Etsy sites too), she makes me want to spend money far too often.

4.  Missed Connections – I got a link to this blog a few months ago, and I love it.  It’s an artist in NY who draws cartoons from Craigslist “Missed Connections” listings and classifieds ads.  She also sells her work on an Etsy site too.

5.  And one for the photographers who follow this blog of mine too… Photo Dino.  I got a link to it on another photography blog that I follow.  I love the way she writes about photography; this blog is not all about the end result it’s about the journey.  My favourite quote from her blog:  Every time you photograph someone, you tell them, “You’re important enough to remember.” Make the most of it.

It’s that time again… time to link to some cool things/sites I’ve found on the interwebs recently.  I really hope you’re enjoying my little link posts every few weeks, because I’m loving sharing my discoveries with you…

1.  Colour me Kate - She’s a freelance photographer in Brooklyn.  I found her link today, and I love the fun projects she takes part in.  Have a look at her Invisible dogs project… I was killing myself laughing!

2. I wrote this for you – I found this blog ages ago, but only started following it again in the last week, when someone tweeted a link to it.  I love the photos and the deep little snippets attached.

3.  Sirkel Jewellery – @jen_searle posted a link to a ring on this jewellers site this morning on Twitter… and I’ve fallen in love with their work!! Wow!! The first set of earrings are awesome as are most of their engagement rings

4.  Birds n Bees – Found this local baby shopping site when I followed a link to the 2009 SA e-Commerce Awards (and don’t forget to vote for your favourite local online shop!)

5.  A friend of mine has started a food blog called Figs and Vetkoek… so go and support her! She’s even posted a recipe for Rooibos Cheesecake that she sort of made up

Ooh and because I can’t count… Being Brazen is having a giveway on her blog for the most gorgeous pair of silver earrings designed by Christine Walsh (who has a gorgeous Etsy shop)… check it out!

I do a lot of trawling the internet for work, and for photo inspiration, and I often come across gems that I really should share.  So here’s my first installment of cool links…

1.  One page from this Tumblr stream was shared by Mishelle on Google Reader, but I love the entire stream… it’s just so inspirational! It’s called I can read and anyone can submit a picture with words to the site.

2.  Rock ‘n Roll Bride’s link was sent to me via Twitter by a fellow photographer, and I love that they showcase different photographers with very funky sessions.

3.  Laura started a new group blog called Female2Female.  It’s all about stories about wonderful inspirational South African women… and a few men.

4.  If you’re into stats and social media, then check out the Facebook stats on checkfacebook.com.  It is updated daily, and I find the country stats amazing, especially when you look at percentage of online users in a country using Facebook.  Also fascinating is the list of top countries on Facebook.

5. This last one I found a few weeks ago, and I went to the blog to get the link today, I was quite sad to see that the bloggers have decided to take a break for a while.  I still want to link to it though, because the Serendipity Factory is so inspiring.  If you’re feeling down, and want some inspiration, then take a wander through their links.

I know some of these might not be new to some of you, but I’m enamoured by them!