On the side...part last for now!

Finishing up...though if I add any in the future I'll be sure to mention as I go.

Day Workers Journal is the blog of a local Day Workers Center that I've talked about before HERE. This is an amazing organization that needs and deserves all the support and recognition that it can get. This blog is especially awesome because it's the actual laborers who keep it. They had a class given on blogging and they began one for the Center; how cool is that? Super cool!


[Mr. Goodwill Hunting] is not a Gus Van Sant fanatic blog, it's a very savvy thrifting blog. This dude knows how to wade through a Salvation Army and come out with two new outfits and a Chippendale {not the dancers y'all, I hope you know this...} something and you all know this sort of thing is near and dear to my heart.

Mimi's Muñeca, after some Blogger profile stalking I found that my friend Monica changed her blog name...caught! She's one of my besties and we went to high school together. She writes about fun stuff, fashion. Monica focuses on local fashion which is great because we can't all live in NYC, LA or Paris and we still deserve to kick up our heels in style.


Last summer an amazing person passed away. Her death has been weighing on me recently because it'a almost been a year and I still feel cheated, as though something unfair happened without any warning. She worked with me and from the first day we met I liked her {it doesn't hurt that she and I shared a love of dachshunds...}. She was very kind and always remembered a few tidbits about everyone so that when you saw her she would ask you questions of your life, making you realize that some people really listen when you speak and that she was one of them. I loved her and I loved working with her. She was diagnosed with cancer and fought valiantly over the summer but it wasn't enough. Our community reeled from the sudden loss as did her beautiful and loving family. Her struggle was documented at Our Rene and I keep up her blog because I go back to it once and a while. I actually kept some emails from her at work too, the ones that go out to everyone, just to read through those from time to time too. She is so missed.

I don't want to end on a sad note. Rene loved life and would be loving this summer with the crazy weather we've been having. This week it warmed up again; today is beautiful and she'd want us all to go out and enjoy...so go!


xoxo, natty ♥

On the side...part III.

Continuing from yesterday...

Smitten Kitchen is a cooking blog. This lady does amazing things, beautiful things, basic cooking and beyond, from her tiny NYC kitchen. This means there's no excuse, y'all, to not cook when I know that our stove and kitchen are loads bigger AND we have a dishwasher. She's a talented chef and whips up some zingers.


Bakerella is super famous thanks to her cake pops. As her title implies, she does mostly baked goods and she does them beautifully.


Better After is SO.MUCH.FUN to read through. This woman does no renovations herself but somehow got it started that people send their before and after pictures to her. It's not personal beauty makeovers, it's mostly pieces of furniture but there are many room re-dos and even some house ones as well. Again, it's a blast to see what people have done {on their own, usually, mind you} and be inspired.


The King and the Bird is my friend Ev's blog. She and her hubby are super sweet and relatively new to the area AND they're expecting a bambino soon!


Until tomorrow!
xoxo, natty ♥

On the side...part II.

Oh my good Lord I am but STEEPED in wedding crafting and planning. I started last night with these cuties:

and then I just couldn't sleep my mind was racing so...how's the day-of set-up going to happen? We need to make signs to direct people here and there. How will I ever go back to work right before the wedding?!?! I need to finish planning our centerpieces. What about programs?!?!? I actually ended up working on programs today...just about all day. I feel like some sort of computer junkie, still in my running clothes from this morning on the couch all day playing around with digital graphics and formatting and not stopping to eat! It's fun, though, and I'm blessed that I have these days where I can dedicate the majority of my time to selfish pursuits. Until August 17th, that is, when work meetings start...

Moving on...I'm adding to the explanations from yesterday. I'll do this until I'm done. Today it's the next four {I need to do more than just three at a time in order to finish in a timely manner y'all} and without further ado:


MADE is a blog I snuck onto from a new friend's blog {to come tomorrow or the next day}. This woman can sew! Learning the skill is on my list...not a bucket list but more of like a "in the next few years" list {which means I just need to suck it up and do it NOW otherwise it won't happen...maybe an "after the wedding" list is a good compromise}. I digress. She does an amazing job of making super cute things for herself and her kiddos and she has pretty straight-forward tutorials.


The Pioneer Woman is a good friend but she just doesn't know it. This lady is known far and wide not just online since she has published several books. I just love her casual way of speaking and her sincerity. The blog is CHOCK FULL of tidbits, not just quotidian musings, so give yourself some time here. As an aside, the New Yorker wrote a fascinating profile on her that belies her down-home image and points out just how dang hard working she is and has to be in order to maintain her blog and it's many shoot-off endeavors. Amazing. Plus, I have an agrarian fantasy and reading this fulfills it vicariously.


Apartment Therapy is a blog that I haven't explored much because I find their format to be a bit confusing {shh, please don't tell, they're HUGE and could gobble me up} but I keep them up there on the ole blogroll because I mean to get to know them better. They have way-cool peeks into beautiful, adorable, funky, DIY, decorated, un-decorated and inspiring homes.


Young House Love is a recent addition. I stumbled across this one from some random blog, as is how new ones are found. It is kept by a, you guessed it, young couple! They chronicle their home renovation projects {including an at-home wedding}. The amount of information can be a bit overwhelming since they usually post twice a day and the subject is Home-Depot-ey. After reading through a few of their posts, though, the tips and tutorials these two churn out are fabulous; they're for the little people like me! It's groovy to see that I could do the things that they do and that it's much easier than one might think. Plus, they have a cute baby.

***Disclaimer...these blog peoples have nada idea who I am {except for my friends...I hope} and I ain't getting no thang for gabbing about them, I just dig what they do and want to spread the word***


That's it folks, for today, this later than usual this summer poster needs to s l o w down her mind and eat dinner. Should I continue program planning after I eat? I have just one more part to finish and then that's it for tonight, I promise to self, and then relaxing without a screen since I have an early am date with Mike tomorrow. We're doing our long run on Thursday this week since he's traveling over the weekend. Wish us luck.
Over and out.
xoxo, natty ♥

And what will you have on the side?

I love reading blogs. There are so many out there; ones that haven't been updated in ten years, daily ones, legitimate NPR ones, ones by friends, big famous ones, Wordpress ones, really plain ones, really fancy ones...I did something to get the little toolbar at the top of my blog to go away but on other blogs where it still is I'll sometimes just click the "Next Blog" button to see what Blogger can give me. 
It's voyeuristic, for sure, to read other people's blogs {rather than a one connected to a business or something like that} but it feels somehow better than facebook since there's reading involved {am I wrong?}. What gave me the idea to start my own was seeing how many exist and realizing that I can do whatever.I.want.to with my blog. Actually, It technically started when I google imaged Chris Martin of Cold Play and the image I clicked on was from someone's personal blog. I read it for a bit and then clicked on a link to someone else's blog and then another and the rest is history.

Via.

Many personal blogs I've stumbled upon have one or several blogrolls. That's the list of other blogs the writer enjoys reading and it goes along the side. Mine right now is to the left <=. It used to be to the right =>. I should probably make a separate heading for each type of blog I follow since they go into different categories but I think that the number is still few enough to keep them all under one list. 
Anyway, I thought I'd explain the ones on my list since they're just there without any explanation. For today I'll start with the top three. Their order changes everyday according to what's the most recent and it even tells you below the title of the blog how long ago it was updated so that you don't need to check by going to the blog to see if there's been a new posting {ingenious!}. You can click on the bold title or just find it on the blogroll.


Miles and Laurel is my friend Rebecca's blog. She's a great writer and posts about the every-days in her life much like I do but with more eloquence. She lives in the city where we met in college and I love reading about her adventures there.

Awkward Family Photos makes me laugh out loud by myself. Check it out! There's a pet offshoot as well.

Operation Beautiful is sweet. People {mostly teen-aged girls, which is basically what I am} write post-it style notes that tell people they're beautiful and worth it and all sorts of good things. They then leave these notes in public places. This blog is where the movement started and where pictures of the notes are posted. Great for a bit of a boost =).


There you have it! I hope you have as much fun creeping around in the blogosphere as I do. I'll finish this up by the end of the week!
xoxo, natty ♥