I really like shopping in general but I don’t like crowds, loud people, annoying shoppers, little kids (and parents who let them run wild) so I would much rather shop online. I can order whatever I want and get it delivered to my apartment building. Today’s Five Things I love post is the top five websites I use to shop online starting with the one I use the most.

Amazon ; For a couple of years I just used Amazon to buy ebooks but then I started using the site to buy actual books after my move where I lost everything (including a lot of books i’ve had since childhood). I bought a bunch hard copies of my favorites and some new authors I enjoyed that I had ebook versions of. In October of 2016 I won an amazon giftcard from a sweepstakes I entered and I got a couple of toys for my nephew’s and Niece’s. From there I started ordering actual items (candy from China), Beauty tools, ect with amazon gift cards or paypal cash I earned from doing surveys.

LaneBryant ; I have to shop here, they are the only store that carries jeans tall enough for me and they carry plus size. I normally don’t buy clothes (jeans) online because if they don’t fit then its a pain to send back for a refund or different pair. I trust them enough to order online and know they will be long enough.

Payless ; They are cheap, always have things on sale and I love shoes. I am always on their website adding things to my wishlist.4

Bath & Body Works ; I have boxes of stuff from here, for awhile I had a shopping problem when it came to this site both online and in the store. I have a body butter addiction and a body spray one too, I have a problem. I like to smell good, sue me.

Rainbow ; I normally shop in store here but I always look at their website to find out what is on sale and what location the product is at.

I am trying to come up with original topics to blog about while still keeping my blog somewhat personal, I know a lot of people online today like to make money with their websites but I have my own way of making money and getting things. If you follow me on twitter or have been reading my blog since I was at L0vestrukk.net you know how I get down. So I really like lists which is somewhat weird considering I am very unorganized offline and somewhat messy which drives SO up the wall but online I like to keep my stuff somewhat organized and in folders.

So for today’s Five things I love and Can’t live without post I am going to list products and websites that make my life easier online, for this website and other things.

• Gmail: I have used a lot of companies for email (yahoo,hotpop,hotmail,msn,outlook) but gmail is still my favorite for the simple fact that I can make as many emails as I want. I have several gmail emails, I have my main one which I check daily and I use for surveys, sweepstakes and this site. I have my group/personal one which I use for an RTA group I am in and my book groups on yahoo, I have the one I use strictly for amazon and then I have my misc one that I use for everything else. I hated how gmail groups everything by conversation but I recently figured out how to change that in settings…it’s perfect.

•  Core FTP:  Other FTP programs never seem to work for me so I keep trying them but end up going back to Core. The main reason is it’s 100% FREE. I like free.

• CoffeeCup HTML Editor: I have always written HTML by hand but Notepad annoys me and this program is free also sometimes I make an error (we all do) and CoffeeCup catches it and lets me know.

• Betternet VPN: I have a TV show and Movie addiction and sometimes I use torrents, this program which is also free blocks my IP address so no one can see what I am downloading. It is simply wonderful…

• Canva:    A  lot of bloggers use this site and a lot of writers too, my list wouldn’t be complete would a mention of it. When I used to publish my novels on Wattpad I would use it to make ebook covers for my books. Now I use it to make twitter headers for my profile page. You can make just about any graphic you what using this site…they have a lot of premade things you can use for free and you can play around with text too.

That is it for my list of online tools, which online tools can you not live without? Leave your list in the comments.

I hate my name and when people mispronounce it

Yes, My name is the title of a song..well aware. Please stop mentioning it and singing it to me. No I wasn’t named after the song, I was named after my grandfather. My name is pronounced how it is spelled, this is especially annoying when I am right in front of you and tell you my name and people always repeat it back wrong. When someone repeats it back right I feel like congratulating them on winning. It has gotten to the point where if you haven’t heard me after the third time and still say it wrong, call me whatever you want..joanne; fine whatever. I’ll answer.

I have owned over thirty websites & a domain

I have been making websites since 1998 and have owned many personal sites (all hosted, by many different people), fansites, fanlistings and I had a domain for a year when I was seventeen.

I completed a book series when I was eighteen

The series was Cast Of Love and Had five books…it was complete. I began writing it when I was thirteen years old and completed book five at eighteen. Unfortunately the series was on my computer when it crashed and I lost everything including the series. The series featured two twin girls in high school; Mindy and Ronnie. I have considered updating and bring the series back…maybe I will.

I taught myself HTML from a book when I was thirteen

My father helped me build a one page webpage when I was thirteen years old on his work domain, in 1996 and then gave me a book on HTML and from there I taught myself to code.

It annoys me when people believe blogs didn’t exist before 2007

I read a blog post last week where someone was giving their blogging history and there was a quote in there that said something like blogging wasn’t a thing before 2007..ah blogging has been around since the late 90s. There is an article floating around about the history of blogs…gotta find the link.

I hate when people lie and then when caught they try to backtrack

Don’t lie to me, just don’t do it. Truth always comes out in the end and is it really worth it to tell me you saw my cousin when you know you didn’t; like I don’t talk to her?

When people try to talk to people through me

SO has this friend who messages me on FB to deliver messages to him, like he did tonight. Last time he messaged me I got called a bitch…boo you have his number, you know where we live..i’m not message girl.

I really hate when people comment on my height:

I know I am tall but stop asking me how tall I am and making dumb comments about it. You can’t find anything else to ask me about that doesn’t relate to my height like my name.

I don’t mind helping people but I hate being taken advantage of:

I have a big heart when it comes to helping people and I always get fucked over or taken advantage of. People seem to thing I am supposed to help them because we are friends but when I do, I never get the help in return if I need it.

I have been blogging since I was sixteen 

I have been making websites since 1998 and blogging since 1999, before wordpress. I actually used to blog by hand, manually and used javascript comment popups.

I am really lazy and unmotivated at times

Sometimes I don’t want to do anything which makes it hard being a writer and owning a blog. I have to force myself to blog sometimes and I have a million novels that are half completed. This annoys my SO btw, he is the complete opposite of me.

I was bullied in school

I don’t like to talk about it but I had a couple of experiences that were horrible for me and is one of the reasons why I dropped out of high school at seventeen. One of the more damaging was when I was in the fifth grade and hit in the eye with an acorn by an eighteen year old, when I was walking back to my aunts house from the bus stop after school.

I was in an abusive relationship

For three years I was in an emotional and physically abusive relationship, even over ten years later it still gets swept under the rug by him and his family.

I have a hard time opening up to people

I have been hurt a lot by people who were really close to me so when people ask me why I like them or love them, I can’t put it in to words. I guard my heart really carefully because of things that happened in the past by people I trusted with my life.

There’s a look into me, I am trying to come up with new post topics and being more open about myself on this blog. Hope that you enjoyed this post.