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10 Things I Like Plus Some Awards

4 Nov posted by
onelovelyblog

Juggling a new tittle as a working mom, dealing with a toddler who’s slowly getting used to our new routine, blogsphere seems like a far away world lately.

I miss it terribly!

And I’m missing the daily interactions with my bloggy friends – old and new.

Lish from A Beautiful Mess gave me this award awhile ago. Thank you, girl! She’s an awesome blogger/photographer if you haven’t heard of her, please do pay her blog a visit.

Sweet Amanda from Home Age also gave me a Versatile Blogger award. She’s such a sweetheart! Thanks, Amanda!

Over at After Bedtime Blog, Vanita gave me an Awesome Blogger award. What a sweet surprise. Thanks again, Mama!

Now here are the ‘rules’ to disclose 10 things me likey in randomly order:

  1. I love err like and miss Coffee Mate French Vanilla Creamer. They don’t have them here and I miss them oh.a.lot!
  2. Vanilla scents. From body sprays, scented candles to ice-creams.
  3. The calmness of early morning, sipping my first cup of coffee and just savoring the only me-time I have during my now busy day. Now have you figured why I’d rather wake up at 4 am everyday?
  4. The jolt of excitements when I’m flying in an airplane – big or small – what can I say, I’m just a sucker for traveling.
  5. The smell and softness of freshly washed bed sheets.
  6. Lil’ A’s “What’s so funny, Mommy?” every time he hears us adults laughing out loud.
  7. How the boy tried so hard to glare his eyes out – poor thing just can’t do it and it only makes him look even more adorably cute.
  8. My bloggy friends…you are all meant so much to me and me love you long time!
  9. Checking out the pictures that I took – albeit the painfully time consuming post-processing – I still squeals when I got some unexpectedly good shots.
  10. My hair spa! Gotta love my two hours of pure relaxations for a mere 5 bucks! Speaking of…I need one badly.

Now, let me pass along these awards to 10 other rocking bloggers who I’m proud to call friends:

  • Maryline over at Franco American Dream – my soul sistah whom I love!
  • MamaOnDaGo – sweet lady who let me guess post last week. She’s a working mom of two and pure joy to be friends with!
  • Sweet wise and did I say sweet? Jane from Life @ Number 8. We chatted a lot through twitter and I adore her!
  • Booyah’s Mama – this girl can writes and crack you up with her witty play of words. I heart her and her blog for sure! Her writing skills are something to die for!
  • Another hot mama in bloggy world who crunchly writes about motherhood and life in general, Veronica of Crunchy VT Mommy is not only beautiful. She’s smart, sharp and oh such fun to know of.
  • Big Teeth & Cloud’s owner – Joey. She too is a talented writer, I just love how she can take  you into her life with mere words and laugh with her.
  • An attorney and freelance writer, L.Eleana J from A Writer’s Den is fantabulous with her words! That’s for sure.
  • The amazing Mrs. Mayhem! Love this lady! Not only she writes beautifully with her heart but she takes killer photos.
  • Ecky from Cisayong Girl is leading a new life as a diplomat wife full of adventure in an exotic place called Pohnpei somewhere in Micronesia.
  • Maria of Tough Cookie Mom – such a sweet sweet lady. Again, we twitted back and forth together but I adore her!
  • My dear friend, Esti over at EstiMiguelAriel she makes dangerously delicious cupcakes, takes awesome pictures and blog about their adventures living in Bangkok.
  • Last but not least, have you met Jessica from Mommyhood Next Right she writes with a passion that comes from her heart and soul about motherhood.

Don’t forget to tell them I send you there if you stop-by their bloggy homes. :D

Later, friends!

20 Comments
Filed Under: Fun things

Want My Mojo Back

2 Oct posted by

This is week 3 at Kludgy Mom’s Back To School Back To Blogging – in my defense I jumped in the wagon at week 2.Kludgy Mom

With how things are in my life, I am forced to rearranged pretty much everything. From my struggle to find a job down to this blog. Yes, like it or not this blog will have to change as well.

It all started as a blog about a mix-marriage couple living back in Jakarta…

Now it would be all about Lil’ A and me and this new path of single motherhood and all its glory.

When I first opened up about going through a divorce here, it was one of the hardest thing I had to published here. I wrote, edited, edited, edited, wrote some more, I cried, I triple questions my decision.

Taking that 3 weeks break from blogging, I had abandoned this blog and my ranks plummeted, my bounce rate went up but at the time I didn’t really care. Now that I am back, I realized I need to pour my heart and soul back to this baby again. Getting myself back into that rhythm again of blogging, networking, commenting will takes some times.

Honestly, I feel like I had lost my mojo in blogging after taking that break.

As much as writing & blogging has been therapeutic to me, I still find myself not investing as much time as I used to. Maybe it’s psychological, I’m not sure – I have stop seeing my counselor months ago. Realizing I had fell off the wagon of happy-family-blogger may also got something to do with it. Been mulling about this as to why I don’t have the energy to do all the networking I need.

Prior to ‘coming out’, this blog has been my baby…my distractions from the pain…it made the days goes by quicker than if I just sit at my parents house doing close to nothing. The hope to fix my marriage was still there.

Now that it is obvious that’s not going to happen I know my blog needs a whole new directions. Yes, I would still blog about being a mother to a toddler who will soon starts school, about living in Jakarta which now will be permanently, about any future travels. Yet realizing that I had fell into that single mom bloggers will take sometimes to sink in.

There is nothing wrong with single mom bloggers…actually, I need to start finding more of them and networking. They’ve been in my shoes before so their wisdom might help me through.

My focus for Tatter Scoops had changed.

AutumnCreative Commons License photo credit:Simon Peckham

For now, I write about the pain, the grieving, the letting go, the sadness to help me cope with it. Your comments has been giving me strength and for that alone I will be forever thankful. Long term wisely, I hope this blog will help other women especially Indonesians who is in the same situation.

Just so you know, although in big cities like Jakarta where divorce rates has been on the spike, most Indonesians still have this negative stigma about it. Whether they admit it or not. There will always be judgment. There’s negative image to carry the tittle as ‘divorcee’. There will be gossips and talks about how ‘she failed to keep her husband’ or ‘why did she give up so easily?’ that kinds of talks. Maybe that’s why I haven’t find that many – if there is any – Indonesian single mom blogs so I guess that niche would fit me perfectly now.

I’m sure there will be highs and lows throughout this journey and I will be using this blog to share it with the world then maybe someday I could read back and see how much I have grow as a person, as a woman, as a mother.

Have you ever feel like you has lost your mojo? Any ideas on how to get them back?

22 Comments
Filed Under: Blogging, Divorce

They Are Real – Blog Buddies

10 Aug posted by

Thank you

As a blogger, it is so exciting to get people commenting on your blog. It feels as if you’ve been heard and you all know it’s a pretty crowded place in the blogosphere.

Before moving to Tatter Scoops, my blog has gotten some regular readers mostly coming from real life friends so to venture to the world of WordPress was a bit intimidating.

Tatter Scoops is almost a year old, which by the way, I had completely forgotten about until Maryline asked!

Joining SITS was one of the best things I ever did as it opens up a whole new world, blogging land! In almost a year, I’ve visited a lot of blogs, leaving comments. Most are kind enough to visit me back but there’s some who didn’t – which is okay.

As time goes by, some of the blogs I love turned into more than just blogs. They become friends – we visited one another blogs, we leave comments that support one another, laugh with one another, even sending out virtual hugs, we chatted on Twitter and so on.

The friendships are real even when it springs out of a virtual world – the blog world…

Some of these people  have been pretty much with me since my blog started, and I want to thank them for their friendships.

Gigi from Kludgy Mom. She’s one of my first blog crush that returns the feelings. Her snarky words always entertain me and keeps me coming back for more. You will love her blog, I promise you. Her Unrequited Love post is one of my all time favorite also her Why Blogging Is Good for You piece. Her brain-child of a meme is one of my all time favorite. Who wouldn’t love to flip things off once a week?!

Kerry and Paul from The Buttler Way. They are one of the coolest, hippest couple I have ever met! Seriously…I am so jealous that these two love birds can blog together. They inspired me with so many of their posts like Embrace The Hip Mom. Kerry’s weight loss journey is super inspiring and she’s working on her book about it. Can’t wait to read it, girl!

Sian from Pumpkin and Piglet is one of my favorite girl too. This first time mum from England have a killer talent for baking and I always find myself salivating reading her recipes like  Berry Shortbread Cheesecake slice.  Oh and who can’t relate to her Supermarket Hell piece?

Natalie from Mommy of A Monster. I just love her blog and her honest take on raising cute twin girls and a toddler. With so many followers, busy blogging life and definitely busy life with her kids, I am fortunate to call her a friend she just have the super power ability to visit her online friends and leave comments love. Her Mommy Needs A Time Out will make you laugh, I swear! Having three kids under 5, she had enough experience of vacation from hell that will make you nodded.

Kate from Mommy Monologues. This girl writes beautifully with awesome drops of humor about her family and about life like her post about The Only Constant In Life Is Change. My favorite post of all time from her gotta be her love letter to the Jackhole at the restaurant that hates her baby.

Katie from Sluiter Nation. She’s a PPD warrior and survivor with a heart of gold. Her piece about being a mother to her handsome little boy and how PPD came after will put tears in your eyes. Her positivity in life is infectious.

Alicia from A Beautiful Mess. Her photography skills are super awesomeness! On one of her posts which I love, she sums motherhood perfectly with these words: “Motherhood is really the epitome of the agony and the ecstasy. There is nothing more difficult or more rewarding that you will ever experience in this life.“  Another favorite that caused so much stirs and giggles among serious discussions of course was The Controversial Wax.

Anita from Finally Woken. Her blog documented not only her journeys of living in Aberdeen, Scotland and now Perth, Australia but also other more serious like the one that she claimed to landed her in hot water, Caucasian vs Indonesian Men post. This world traveler shared her tips on Travel With Dignity which I love.  She has become such a great friend in my real life too – we have met twice.

New Discoveries

From doing 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Challenge I got to discover fantastic new blogs too and I’m so happy I joined the challenge as it expands my blogsphere tremendously. Not only I got to learn a lot of more technical stuffs to do behind the screen to pump up my blog but I got to connect with these great bloggers:

Maryline from Franco American Dream. She’s my blog buddy from the challenge but it’s the similarities that pulled me to her blog. She’s a French girl married to her American husband, an expat with one cute baby boy in tow. See the pattern? She got to dealt with USCIS the way I did and her post about What the American Dreams means when you’re not American is something worth reading as you will see what it’s like to be an immigrant. Not only that, she wrote about the career world as well.

Gemma from Travel Diaries. This girl writes about her travel too and I’ve been enjoying my virtual trip to explore London through her posts. She introduced me to something that will comes in handy for all traveler, The Universal Packing List.I just love her blog!

Melissa from Adventuroo. Mommy to two handsome boys, this girl is the closest I ever get to an SEO expert besides her obvious photography talent! Her Momcomm Monday is a must read for bloggers – especially mommy bloggers. She gives out awesome tips like How To Improve Your Writing that’s not only helpful but in terms that I can easily digest. For some laugh go read 100 things she have learned about blogging.

Lynda from Daily Window. Her photography skills are to die for! Seriously, if you’re into photography go check out her blog plus she’s also one of SITS Community Leader. Besides sharing her photography skills knowledge, she’s also very computer savvy. Did you check out her 12 WordPress Plug-ins she can’t live without yet?

Andree from On Linden Way. NYC native now living in Europe and traveling all over the continent and Africa, she got really awesome pictures from her travels  and adventures that she shares on her blog. Not only that she also shared tips on 10 Must Have Items for Living On The Road.

These are just a few and I will share more later – so stay tuned for the second batch coming next week.

Thank you for all your support and bloggy friendships. Really, I appreciate them :)

46 Comments
Filed Under: Blogging

Weekly Roundup – 4th Week of July

26 Jul posted by

WOW…July is almost over? Hard to believe how fast the weeks has gone by.

Here are some updates from my side of the world:

  • I had join SITS in doing the ProBlogger‘s 31 Days to Build A Better Blog (31DBBB) since last Monday (July 19, 2010). Actually, I had ‘attempt’ to do this in January but never get to finish it so when the SITS girls came up with this I signed up and it’s more enjoyable to do this as a community. So far I’ve ‘met’ new fantastic bloggers through the challenge and although it’s not easy to keep up with the task especially during the weekend, I truly enjoy this challenge and hope to complete it along with so many other great SITStahs out there. Not only we get to learn many new things about building a better blog, it’s amazing to see how powerful these women can be working together as a team. Thanks SITS! It’s never too late to join in. Just click on the button below.

    • Take the Problogger Challenge with SITS and BlogFrog

  • On the job front: I had another job interview last Thursday at one of a prominent PR companies here in Jakarta. It was one something different, because although I did studied PR in college I never work as a Public Relation before and after finally admitting that I am too old by Indonesian standards to return to my previous career path as an Executive Secretary, I thought I’d finally give this PR thing a try. The company looks very promising, Love their atmosphere immediately but we shall see if I make it or not.
  • Toddlerhood wise: Now I realize why I’m not suppose to be bone stick skinny again – because let’s face it, there’s no way a skinny body can endure such roughhousing Lil’ A loves to do! With a busy Daddy who travels a lot for business, he’s left with a Mommy to take on that part. Sigh! It is fun playing roughhousing with him although my back really begs for mercy. He’s over 40 pounds so yeah…Bengay here I come!

  • Last Saturday I went on my first Photo Walk. It was a great experience – from my photography passion side but it’s also kind of sad because I got to see how poverty is still a huge problem in this country.

That's a spirit!

  • On a lighter note: Tatter Scoops is being featured on Top Mommy Blogs and I really am stoked about it. Thank you so much for you who had voted. If you haven’t can you please vote for me? Pretty please, with a cherry on top? :D

    • Top Mommy Blogs - Mom Blog Directory

Hope you had a great week and will have a better week ahead! :)

26 Comments
Filed Under: Musings

On Finding My Voice

17 May posted by

Breakfast in Santorini
Creative Commons License photo credit: UrbanMechanic

Although blogging isn’t really a new thing for me, taking it seriously is. Besides learning the use of WordPress, its CSS code and many plug-ins – it’s been fun.

When I think about Niche tho that’s when I seems to be falling out of the ‘normal’ categories. There’s plenty of successful mommy blogger out there that inspires me. But I’m not a homeschooling mommy, my blog doesn’t revolve around my little man – he’s a huge part – but not the only part, doing craft really isn’t my thing, cooking? Well, my cooking constitute of survival instincts only. I love photography but I’m still a novice. Traveling has been low this year but I write whenever we do go places.

There are plenty of mix marriages (specifically Indonesian – Western mix) out there but only a few really blog seriously.

So which niche do I belong to?

Then there’s a whole thing about finding your ‘true voice’…one of the best constructive critiques I received recently is about my tone being monotone. Since then I’ve been thinking about how to make my ‘true voice’ shines through these mere words I’m typing.

“Like a chat between friends over coffee…”

That’s how I want to write but it’s sometimes hard to get that voice across since – again and I hate using this as an excuse – English is my second language. Never in my life did I take writing class although I wish I did when we were still living in the States. Yes, I had dreams in English but living back in Jakarta means my daily interactions are mostly in Indonesian although I speak English with Lil’ A & DH.

I crave to write like those other lady bloggers that I admire, witty, sharp with a good dose of sarcasm and fun to read. Not boring and monotone.

“Like a chat between friends over coffee…”

When I think about it, my mind immediately run to when I chat with my BFF, Kris. She lives in San Diego with her beautiful family. Met her online and we’ve been BFF ever since. Sometimes we’d talk over the phone or just chat online and the conversations just flow naturally. I want to be able to write the way I talk with her but then I might have to censor some stuffs hahaha. *wink at ya, Kris! ;) *

Hmmm…I guess we really can be our worst critique. Until I find my real voice I shall continue writing the way I feel like it. :D

How do you find your voice?

13 Comments
Filed Under: Blogging, Musings

Sneezy Posts

2 May posted by

This was one of the assignment from 31 Days to Built Better Blog that I ‘failed’ to practice because at the time my blog was still quite new and yesterday it was a topic at SITS.

I just installed a new plug-in called Popularity Contest that listed my top 10 popular posts, but I have older posts that were buzzing on twitter and my facebook page although sadly there were no comments on them. Here are 5 of them:

So please do go check them out and comment away :D

10 Comments
Filed Under: Blogging
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