Blog Love

I'm a blog addict.  Kind of like I'm a chair-buying addict.  I read DOZENs of blogs daily with google reader.  (Let's have a moment of silence for Google reader's demise...... looking for a replacement, any ideas?) As part of the Blog Boss e-course that I'm taking, this past week's homework was to analyze 8 blogs that rock and why.  Since I'm such a blog whore, that's a pretty easy task, so here goes!

www.lovelyindeed.com

First of all, the design of this site grabs me and pulls me in.  It grabs me so much, in fact, that I hired the designer for this site (who happens to be the blogger Chelsea's hubby) to do the redesign of this lil' ol' blog here.  I love the creative simplicity- it let's the content take charge.  The pictures are always phenomenal, but so are the DIYs.  Chelsea doesn't ramble on and on like some other bloggers (present company included, and don't get me wrong, I loves me some blogs that DO ramble...), so the writing is always well-thought out and from the heart.  Did I mention the pictures?  I did?  Well, they deserve to be mentioned again.  The photos are always amazing and somehow elevate even the simplest subject.

www.housetweaking.com

Look, another simple, yet well-designed blog!  Guess what I'm drawn to!  Pretty pictures, a nice layout, honest content.  I'm easy to please.  It definitely helps also, when the blogger has an awesome sense of style like Dana does.  The blog's tagline says it all "because home doesn't happen overnight."  Amen!  I love Dana's honest style of blogging and the way she welcomes her readers into her life.

www.younghouselove.com

We all know I have a huge blog crush on John and Sherry (like when I went to their book signing here).  Talk about honest blogging (I'm seeing a trend!  I like well-designed honest blogs!).  John and Sherry blog from the heart and it shows in all their projects and posts.  They can make any DIY project entertaining and seem achievable even for the DIY novice- they literally wrote the book on it.  I'm just waiting for them to realize that we should totally be BFFs in real life.

www.abeautifulmess.com

Another blog with stylish simplicity!  Well, I know what I like!  I'll admit, I'm not as much into the food posts, though.  I like eating amazing food, I even appreciate amazing food styling, but I prefer to look at pretty pictures of rooms that inspire me instead of food that I don't get to eat.  Luckily A Beautiful Mess doesn't disappoint with that either.  What I appreciate most about this blog is the style.  Every pic has style, every DIY has style, every giveaway... well you get the point.  The style of the blog is consistent and, well, beautiful!

www.stylebyemilyhenderson.com

I've also admitted to my girl crush on Emily Henderson who's on the HGTV show Secrets from a Stylist, but did you know she has an awesome blog too?  She gives some great behind the scenes peaks of her show and glimpses into how she sources all of the amazing pieces that she uses in her designs.  That girl can style her way out of a paper bag, she's that good.  As with pretty much all of these blogs on this list, the blog is simple, stylish, honest and just beautiful to read.

http://decorandthedog.blogspot.com/

You can't help but love Michelle's personality.  Well, maybe you can, but I certainly can't.  This is another one of those honest blogs that I just keep coming back to.  Plus it has a cute dog.  Aren't cute pets always a perk for blogs? I hope so!

www.serendipitousthings.com

Another BYW Blog Boss student, I was obviously drawn to the name.  I have a thing for the word 'serendipity' I guess.  I also have a thing for simple and consistent blog designs, so we can put a check in that column too.  I love the iPhoneography posts- what a great way to visually chronicle the year!

www.themakinghome.com

A creative blog with vintage flare, and also another BYW Blog Bloss student.  She has such a great bio- visual, but still simple and personal.  The fonts- oh the fonts.... Fonts rank almost as high as blogs and chair-buying on my list of addictions vices.  The well-styled DIYs don't hurt either.

I guess the bottom line is this:

• I love blogs that are visually interesting, but simply styled (usually ones that are DIY or decor-centric)
• Honest blogging will keep me coming back for more

Blog Block

This week has been tough mentally with the flip.  I've been going and going and going, but I'm running in water.  It feels like I've been laying floors FOREVER, but I'm ecstatic to say that the hall and kitchen are done! (well, with the exception of door transitions and trim, but that's in progress).  I'm working out my floor 'tutorial', but surprise surprise, laying hardwood floors is not easy to spell out, but SOON, I promise! I get very one-track-minded with projects, and with the magnitude of flip house projects, I'm more one-tracked than usual.  My own house's projects are suffering and I've been constantly at a loss of what to write here that's not centered on the flip.  Maybe you can help though!  What do you like seeing here or what do you NOT like seeing here?  I know you guys like DIY's the best, but I can't DIY all the time, so what else tickles your fancy?  Would you want to see others' DIY projects that I come across online, or do you like (or not like) when I show you an awesome room that I've pinned?  Tell me what keeps you coming back!

Hopefully I can start a few series posts and pull myself out of this mental rut.

Check back tomorrow for Clark the flip house's Week 4 update!!

image via typographyserved via pinterest

Springing Forward

New England is once again having a spring identity crisis.  The birds are chirping and it's supposed to be in the mid 50's.... Too bad everything's still covered in a foot of snow from Friday!  I'll take what I can get, though- I LOVE spring! Not that I'm wishing the time away (because I certainly need every second I have to get Clark the flip house ready to be sold!), but for the past 6 months I've been counting the days until March 18th- next monday!  It's a trivial reason, I'll 100% admit it.  It's the day I can upgrade to an iphone 5 without having to pay an arm and a leg!  I've been living through the worst cell phone on the planet (true story) for almost 2 years now, I'm surprised I haven't thrown it out the window!

In sheer excitement for my future phone, I started looking at cases yesterday.  I've bought prints from Society6 in the past, but I had forgotten that they offer most of their prints in iphone cases as well- a design geek's dream!

They have some seriously amazing iphone cases with art prints and typography:

but I'm so drawn to these simpler, yet still graphic ones:

Although I loooooove the look of these cases, I'm torn about needing a beefier case to protect the phone.  I haven't ruled out buying a beefier case then adding some pizazz to it myself, but until then, I'll ogle over these. So many options, what's a girl to do?!

cases via Society6: 1/2/3/4/5/6