The Kari AnnAlysis

Archive for the ‘Internet’ Category

So you probably think that since I haven’t posted about knitting in a couple of weeks, I’ve probably already grown tired of the creativity and hand pain and frustration when you drop or pick up a stitch. Not so much! I’ve been busy knitting!

I finished my first scarf. It may not be the best scarf, but it’s my first scarf. I even had my mom teach me to sew buttons on it to spice it up a little and take away from the fact that I added about 25 stitches along the way. YIKES! I don’t have a picture of it yet, but that’s not because I’m embarrassed, just need to find someone to snap the shot. I actually wore it to work and a football game last week.

I’ve learned a lot about the art of knitting already, thanks to countless YouTube videos and a website that I have fallen in love with!

Isn’t this a cute login page? My new obsession, or one of many lately, is Ravelry.com.

We all know I am VERY OCD. I love Goodreads.com because it’s a quick and easy reference to the books I’ve read. Yes, I know that’s the point of book blogging, but on Goodreads.com, you can look at the books you read in alphabetical order, or by rating or by when you added it. Nice and organized. That’s why I love Ravelry.com as well.

This site has many features, including patterns, yarn, forums, and my favorite, the notebook.

The notebook allows you to check out projects you find on Ravelry.com that you like and may want to try in the future, lets you check out your friends list and also, my favorite, lets you add your own projects. This is an awesome way to keep them organized and to remind you what you have done and how it went. There are many times when it comes to book reviews that I know I loved the book that I read last year, but I read so much, I can’t tell you the details of it. Hence my love for Goodreads.com, and now my love for Ravelry.com.

If you are in the knitting/crocheting community and have not checked out this website, please do! And add me as a friend. I am KariAnnAlysis on there too!

And thanks to Haley for telling me about this website!

Coming up next for the knitting community, my new favorite iPhone app!

Being in the media world, you are always surrounded by the latest tech inventions. I remember when everyone at work got the first iPhones and I reluctantly held out, and then cursed myself after I finally gave in. Why did I wait so long? Same thing with my Nook. There was no way I was getting one of those stupid readers. Now I can’t put mine down.

Another invention that I have been holding out on is Skype. We use it all the time for interviews when we may not be able to get somewhere. I’ve watched people do it and have even taken part one weekend at my cousin’s with a chat with my aunt.

But, as always, I held out.

One of the reasons was that I had a little Netbook that we took the webcam application off because it took up too much space. But, I got a new computer and now I have no excuse. Well I’ve had the computer for a few months now and finally, finally, gave in this week.

After a weekend with family members, who love Skype, I decided I’d try it out.

I set it up and called my cousin, the only person I feel comfortable enough to call right now. It was so much fun! It saved us from multiple texts and I got to see her pretty face, and her mom’s thanks to the mobility of the laptop.

We had a nice little chat, enhanced by my webcam abilities. The Dell webcam has all kinds of fun features like you can add wigs to your hair, and different glasses and mustaches and different effects, like making your mouth or eyes really big. And they move with you so they are always proportional. I went through them all and my cousin and I chose the ones that were the best, because that’s how I showed up on her end of the conversation, with stunner shades on.

I will soon do a Wordless Wednesday with my fun Skype effects, but until then, just think of me with a fun house looking mouth that spans my whole face, a teen wolf mask and steam coming out of my ears.

Who knew the Internet could be so fun?

One of the things that I was concerned about with Skyping was people seeing me while I am talking. I know, vain right? I am not a big phone talker in the first place. I would rather send a text or an email than talk. I hate awkward silences and I feel like the phone calls always come to that. And add to it that you can see what I am doing? That means I have to sit still for the duration of the conversation. No cleaning my room, which I do a lot while on the phone, or picking my nose, you never know when you’ll have to. Luckily it’s family, so they don’t care what I look like. But I can’t imagine Skyping with someone you are interested in. You’d have to get ready so you look nice while talking. Too much work.

I’m sure I’ll ring my cousin’s Skype account off the hook, until the newness wears out. I’ll make it my nightly ritual before I settle in for my bedtime reading. It’s just a fun, new way to talk (new for me at least).

So are you guys Skypers? Were you nervous for your first one? Are you as vain as I am?

Since it’s the dead of summer, I figured I’d do something timely for this week’s Etsy Find Fridays. This week’s items: SUNGLASSES!

It’s been a while since I’ve had the creative spark to find something cool enough on Etsy to post. In case you have forgotten, this meme was started by my bloggy sister WriteMeg! She introduced me to Etsy and I am obsessed. I can always find cool, unique gifts on there, although I have a really hard time not splurging for myself.

So, my goal was to get on the website and find a whole bunch of sunglasses that I would want to buy. I always lose my sunglasses so I pick up a few pairs a year. This year, I have two, and they are both in my car. Why I need two in my car? Last week, one of the pairs walked straight up the stairs onto my end table and I forgot them on my way to work. Luckily, my pink ones were still in my car

Unfortunately, I didn’t find what I was hoping on Etsy. I should not be surprised. The creativity on this website is astonishing, and I shouldn’t, for a second, have thought I was going to find run of the mill sunglasses. Take a look at what I did find.

Ok, was I right, or was I right about these bad boys? I don’t even know how you could wear some of these. In some places, I would imagine no one would even notice, but in West Virginia, I would probably be asked to leave the state.

As always, if you want to check out the glasses, or find something else by the seller, just click on the picture!

So in my post yesterday, I talked about having some  ideas up my sleeve. My first one is a new meme I’d like to try out. I am going to call it Study Time.

Whether it is on the radio, tv or online, I am always reading about the newest study that was done somewhere. I wish there was a study to figure out how many studies are done a year.

These studies do a number of things for me, from making me laugh, to teaching me something, until a new study is done which bunks the results, to hoping that tax dollars aren’t paying for these ridiculous things.

So what I want to do, is a weekly meme, probably a weekend thing on studies. I will find a study that I think is interesting and show it to you guys. Of course I will have something to say about it and hope that you do too.

For my first study time, we are going to start with something easy. Something that I am sure we can all agree we have done – shopping with the blues. We have all gone to the mall or even the grocery store to release the tension on  a bad day. But a new study says hold your credit card tight if you’re having a cruddy day.

Study Found: Digitaltrends.com
Authors of Study: Paul Herr and Derick Davis of Virginia Tech, Christine Page of Skidmore College and Bruce Pfeiffer of University of New Hampshire
Findings: “It’s better to shop when you’re in a good mood because your more more consistent, wiser choices.”  They came to this conclusion by showing positive and negative images to people then told to pick positive or negative adjectives from a list to describe the objects. They say that the study shows that people who are in a good mood make more consistent decisions. So, when it comes to shopping, the researchers say this could be huge. That rather than a store “pumping house music with abrasive models for employees, a place  that makes customers feel happy might end up with people making more purchases they actually want and fewer returns.

Kari’s Response: Ok all, so this study, based on decisions that people made compared to looking at puppies and diseased feet (yes, those were the images that were show) “shows” that happy shopping is better than blues shopping. While I love shopping, no matter if I have had a bad day or if I’m having a stellar day, I think I would agree with the study. I am the kind of shopper who thinks every single purchase through. I think about money and about how much use I can get out of it and if anyone else will get use out of it and if I really need it or just want it. Needless to say, shopping for me, while enjoyable, is tedious. Just this week, I got a great deal at Hollister. I got 4 items, that had tag prices of a total of $180. I only paid $60 for them, but still had a mini panic attack after I left, wondering if I made the right decision. I think this is a good shopping trip to use for this study. A couple of days before I wrecked my car, so the day I went shopping, so it’d been a stressful week from the get-go, getting an estimate, deciding whether I wanted to add it to my insurance or pay out of pocket. Just the thing I wanted to spend my money on right? No! I wanted to buy something from Hollister. So I did. But it seriously took me an hour to make my decision. I found 5 items I loved, but only wanted to buy four. And even after I left, I wasn’t sure if I made the correct decision because my mind was all muddied with stress. I know from personal experience that when I am in a bad mood I may not make the best decisions, whether in life in general or in shopping. So, even though I’m not sure that showing pictures of gross feet vs. puppies helps determine if you’ll take more things back after shopping, I think I agree with the outcome.

What about you?

I’m coming off the high of a very awesome shopping weekend. Spent the weekend up in Northeastern Ohio with my mom, aunt and cousin. We went to an outlet and the biggest mall I’ve ever seen. I got two new Coach purses (post on them to come) and a bathing suit. But that isn’t what this post is about. It’s more about drooling over what I can’t afford. And I do that on a daily basis on a little gem of a website called RueLaLa.

RueLaLa is a “members only” website that offers some exclusive shopping deals. Most are out of my spending limit, but getting $5000 off a $6000 dress, it’s a deal that is just too good to ignore. And just because I say it’s members only, don’t get nervous. It’s free, well except the stuff you buy. All I do, as a member, is invite you to join. Easy enough right?

I was invited to RueLaLa a year or so ago, but didn’t spend much time on it. I got the emails with the list of boutiques they were offering every day and just deleted them. Recently, the email came in and I didn’t have much to do so I checked it out. For the past month, I’ve been on it every day and have even got my husband checking out the men’s stores.

We all know I’m not a big spender, yes I just got two Coach purses, but I got them at outlets and had $298 in gift cards and the purses only costed $230. So I still have $60 to spend at some other time. Maybe sooner rather than later? Back to the point, most of the time I am just looking at RueLaLa and stll haven’t purchased anything yet, but one day, one day I will. I almost bought a Michael Kors dress that was fabulous, but I chickened out and it was sold out next time I got on.

You are probably wondering if this website has anything for you? You betcha. There is everything from shoes to jewelry to mens and womens clothes to home furnishings and trips. The boutiques are open for two days, or until everything sells out. There are about 5-6 new boutiques that open on a daily basis. Oh and Sundays are the best day. They have a Sunday Night Styleathon that starts at 8pm and has more fabulous deals for you!

I just wanted to share this little piece of Heaven with you. And if you want to be part of it, just leave me a comment with your email address. And even if you don’t think you’ll buy, it never hurts to look. Right? Right!

*Disclaimer: If any of you join this site and buy excessively, I am not to be held reso