2nd Post

Hmm, I'm laughing a bit at myself (but that's what life's about, right?) for my lack of creativity in the post-naming department.  Maybe I'll get better at that.  Or maybe I won't.  Still, I've decided that the point is to write, to get ideas out, and to be honest.  This is my space to do so and frankly I don't have a plan for where this post is going, much less do I actually have a goal for what this blog will be overall.  So I thought I'd talk about aspirations. 

I have quite a few little places on the web that I check in on regularly.  People whose lives are nothing like mine.  And who know nothing about me at all.  But I think of them as co-friendly souls.  People out there in bloggy world who bravely bare their lives and let people like myself peer in.  And some of them I disagree with some of the time.  But I still think they're quite brave.  They open themselves up to criticism, but they also open themselves up to support and love.  I thought I'd share a few here that I love.  While I of course don't plan to copy anyone's style or blog (Nor could I.  I don't even have a camera of my own right now.  And my own cute baby is furry and 4 legged, so they'll be no potty training hilarity on this blog--at least not in the foreseeable future.  And I'm quite brand new at this so I don't know how to even embed anything.   And as you'll see, I'm apparantly quite fond of parentheticals.), I do admire bits and pieces of each one of these.  Mostly the smiley bits.  The beautiful bits.  And the real bits.  And so I hope to emulate just a bit of each one of these (and others') my-most-favorite bits. 

So, in short, some of my faves:

Sweet Nella & Lainey Love Kelle, you make me want to be a mom, you do it so beautifully.  Oh, okay, so I wanted to be a mom even before finding Kelle's site, but Kelle does such a great job at finding the beauty in it that I want to do it even more.  But that's a story for another day...

Margot & Ruby This blog makes me want to get out there and dig in the dirt (yes, from the second-flood condo--I know, I know) and sew (on the sewing machine that I don't yet have but that I am currently scouring craigstlist for) and can veggies (like the rows of canned dilly beans that were in my granny's very scary basement the whole time I was growing up).  Oh yes, and also have children and write well and be so very balanced that when I occasionally fall out of balance I can remember the important things and re-center with a blog post. 

Dooce Heather Armstrong, you make me smile.  Okay, and also occasionally laugh outloud at work.  I love that you can talk about dog farts and birds in the wall and still be real enough to talk about the stuff that matters too.  Like mental health.  And almost rabid but cute babies.  You know, just so it doesn't get too serious. 

SmittenKitchen Oh, and perhaps if my own blog takes a different turn, you'll see ways in which I emulate Deb's kitchen brilliance.  I mean, learning to cook as naturally and as well as my own mom, is on the bucket list.

And then there's Joanna's great finds and Kat's style advice.  (because as much as I try not to and as much as my budget and my day-to-day outfits might lead you to think otherwise, I am sometimes a material girl.  I try not to be.  But I just love pretty things so much.  By pretty things, I generally mean clothes)

Taylor So this one is the only one that I know "in real life."  And yes, perhaps my only not-super-discovered-already-by-everyone-else-in-the-bloggyworld, contribution to this how-I-sometimes-waste-pass-my-time-list.  And unlike the others I don't so much aspire to be like the image that the writer puts out their as their "public face"--that's because I know them in real life.  As much as I admire this family based on Laura's well written words, I admire them seven hundred times more because of the grace I see them demonstrate in their real lives.  Taylor King has Batten Disease.  It's a horrible disease.  It's stealing from Taylor.  It's also robbing Celia and Tatyanna and Brandon and Jeremy.  It's stealing from their families.  It's stealing from all of us.  And yet Taylor lives in the moment.  She doesn't chat as much as she used to, but when she does open up to you, it's worth it.  She's really special. 

(Anyone?  Anyone who is out there?  Who else do you love?) 

Of course, I hope to pick up the bits and pieces of my aspirational life which I recognize in all of these various others and try them on for size and mend and alter and keep what fits for my own life.  And I intend to remember that afterall, no one can do a better job being me than me.  And so, in this blog you might be able to expect my thoughts on life, beauty, food, my impact upon the world (going for a positive one here people), and anything and everything else that crosses my mind and which I take the time to write about.

Oh and p.s. I had two comments!  TWO!!  Pearl Westwood and WhiteWhispers2u, thank you.  Your welcomes were so unexpected and appreciated.  This is why I want to blog.  Because I think know that it will be an experience which will be affirming of my belief that the world is a good place.