November is the month that you see all of your Facebook friends listing what they’re thankful for, because Thanksgiving makes one automatically aware of the little (and big) things in your life with which you’ve been blessed.


I used to read a lot. I had a dozen magazine subscriptions and had time to READ THEM ALL (can you imagine?!). I walked out of the library with stacks of books, and finished them all before the due date! I read WHOLE novels, start to finish! Now I’m lucky if I can get through my All You magazine each month and find the coupons I need, or read Us Weekly to find out that Kim Kardashian got married before she gets divorced.


But, because of technology, I can read blogs on my phone in the doctor’s office! Blogs in bed! Blogs in front of the tv, and blogs in the pick-up line at school! It’s fabulous, and I’m grateful for it. I learn so much from them, and I laugh out loud A LOT. I find myself nodding my head at stories of things I’ve gone through myself.


There are far too many blogs to mention them all, but I wanted to tell you a little about just a few of my favorite blogs, in case you need some new ones to become thankful for, too. I’m also thankful for the ladies who write these blogs. Not only are they funny, and smart, and real, but they were all gracious enough to tell me a little bit about themselves and their blogging experiences.

Mommy Shorts is the blog I have delivered straight to my email and open immediately upon arrival. I’m always happy to see it in my inbox, facebook timeline, and twitter stream. Ilana is a New York City mom to Mazzy (quite possibly one of the most adorable toddlers you’ve ever seen). She is gracious, lovely, and HILARIOUS. Check out her caption contests, her fancy charts, and this post about her experience being away from home during a hurricane. She also does fun contests on her facebook page like Celebrity Look-alikes (which spawned the My Baby Looks Like…? site, the Colossal Cake Smash Smackdown, and LOTS of others.


Ilana had this to say about her blog:
Mommy Shorts is my attempt to find the humor in parenthood. If your child throws up in their brand new car seat ten minutes after you finally figure out how to install it (as mine did), you have to laugh. Otherwise, you would sell your kid to the highest bidder.

My life is full of food, family and funny, and I think it’s only fair that I should share.

I discovered Jamie’s blog, Chosen Chaos, fairly recently. She is also a mother of two boys and two girls, except her two girls were #3 and 4, and twins! She is funny, and sweet, and a gal that I would love to know in real life so we could meet for coffee when the chaos is just…too chaotic. She has a series called “If I Could Turn Back Time” in which other bloggers write to the girls they were at 18 years old, giving them advice and talking about lessons they learned, and one called “Weekend Wisdom”, where she features a quote and picture…sometimes funny, sometimes straight-up wise, always helpful in getting you through the week. I love these posts of hers, but this one? I don’t think I could possibly relate to a blog post more. Follow Jamie on twitter and facebook if you need a little extra joy in your day.


Jamie described her blog as this:
The chaos I am surrounded by is my choice.  I always wanted life this way.  I never knew how much fun it would be to tell all of YOU about my chaos.  Nor did I know how much wine it would require to survive it.



Stasha writes at The Good Life. If you’re a blogger and have longed for a sense of community, or even just a little bit of validation, you really should get to know Stasha and her Monday Listicles link-up. You probably already know that I sometimes do a “Listicle” for the week, but what you may not know is that when I do, Stasha makes me feel like her day is better because she read my post. She reads every addition to the linky on Monday and tweets about it, usually more than once. She is a fantastic hostess. She’s also a fantastic photographer AND her dog is a celebrity!


You should follow Stasha on twitter here and facebook here.


Stasha told me this about Northwest Mommy:
Stasha has one of everything: child, husband, dog, horse and mediocre  sense of humour. She blogs about The good Life for one reason only: because she can. What she cannot do is talk about herself in just one sentence. No one is perfect…





If you read this blog with any regularity, you’ll know that I’ve been participating in the iPhone Photo Phun link-up every Wednesday for several weeks (months?). One of the beautiful brains behind iPPP is Liz of a belle, a bean & a chicago dog. She writes about her metrosexual husband and her adorable girls (could their costumes have been any cuter?!). Liz is one of the kindest bloggers I “know” and also one of the quickest to answer any and all questions about blogging that you can come up with. She’s also one of the brains behind Eli Rose Social, a site that you can go to for all kinds of blogging and social media tips, as well as assessments of your own blog. I’ve had two done now and got very valuable information from them both on how to make my blog and social media presence better and more effective. It would be wise of you to follow her on twitter and facebook. 


Liz shared this about her blog: 
For me, blogging is…my sanity…”using my brain” while I’m at home with the kids….a way to exercise my long-dormant business & marketing muscles…an unplanned stepping stone towards my future career.



Natalie is the author/editor/founder of Mommy of a Monster & Twins. I’m always amazed when I read about twins, and Natalie’s are no exception. Natalie is another very real mom. She isn’t afraid to ask for advice when she needs help. She has a Mommy Moments feature, in which other real moms post about not-always-rainbows-and-sunshine mothering experiences, and I’ve never read one that I didn’t relate to. And if you need some majorly sweet funny in your day? Just read about her twin girls. You can follow Natalie on Twitter and Facebook.


I asked Natalie about her blog, and she told me this:

I started blogging because having 3 kids under 3 was so much to handle, and I needed somewhere to put my feelings. Writing has become an important part of my life, and the support that I’ve received from bloggers and just hearing others say “I get it” or “You aren’t alone” has gotten me through some very hard times!

Pretty All True is the brainchild of Kris, an amazing writer and matriarch of a family that’s a little bit crazy, insanely smart and ALWAYS interesting. She’s got two girls, Kellan and Maj, who provide her with an endless array of hysterical blog fodder, a husband that gets her and a way with words that leaves me in awe every single time. You simply must follow her on facebook and twitter. Really, you must.


I asked Kris some questions, and this is what she said:

What were your intentions in starting prettyalltrue.com?

I started Pretty All True shortly after we moved from California to Oregon.  I hoped to record for my daughters a written account of “that time our family threw everything we knew up in the air and moved to Oregon.”  Over time, Pretty All True has become more, but that’s how it started.

What do you find is the greatest reward you get from blogging?

 The greatest reward I get from writing is the writing.  I write every day, and I am so pleased to be able to set the time aside everyday to do something that I love.  Other wonderful things have happened because of my writing, but in the end and in the beginning . . . I love the writing.

How has your blog changed from the first post to now?

 I am a better writer now than I was when I started.  I am more certain of my voice and more confident with my words.  That said, the biggest change is in perspective.  When I started writing on Pretty All True, I wanted nothing more than to have others love my words.  I wrote hoping that others would love me.  These days, I find I am much more interested in the extent to which I love my own words.  I obviously want readers, but I want them to come for me.  I am enough.

photo from bloggingdangerously.com

Blogging Dangerously is my guilty pleasure blog. Kit writes anonymously, so she’s not afraid to let it all out. She talks about sex and marriage, parenting, and everything in between BECAUSE SHE CAN. That’s the beauty of her blog. She writes anything she wants, and it won’t hurt anybody. Follow her on twitter (especially on Friday nights during her twit-offspring, #wineparty) and facebook to keep up with all of the dangerous happenings in Kit’s world.

I asked Kit about her blog, and she directed me to her first post, where she explains how Blogging Dangerously came to be.


So, there you have it. Just a few of the blogs that I’m grateful to have found. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!