In Which I Send Love to My Blogger Friends (A Day Late)

So, yesterday kind of got away from me and I forgot to post! Bad blogger! So what kept me from blogging? Well, I drove into Philly around 11 to meet up with Pamoushk after she finished the Broad Street Run! As someone who doesn't run unless I am being chased by something, the fact that this girl voluntarily runs for fun blows my mind. Yesterday, she ran 10 miles like it was nothing, and afterwards, we went to Mexican Post for some Cinco de Mayo, post-race food and drinks. $5 sangria? Yes, please! I also ate entirely too many tortilla chips. Whoops. After our celebrations, I went to Ulta to return the teal eyeliner that I accidentally purchased, went to Target (and only got the things on the list!), returned a purse that I had bought the day before (I liked it, but not $25 liked it), and went grocery shopping. Then I came home and collapsed into a pile because my body is still not over being sick. So yeah, I figured that 10ish hours late is better than nothing, and now you get two posts today! Lucky you! And so without further ado, the bloggers I love the most:

Jenny Lawson, AKA: The Bloggess
AKA: One of the most wonderful people in this world

If you don't know who The Bloggess is, I demand that you go to her website RIGHT NOW and read. This is a good place to start, especially if you want to laugh your face off. Jenny is not only hysterical, she is one of the most lovely, positive forces out there on the internet. The internet is so full of grossness and hate, and Jenny is a reminder that even if you're a little quirky, there are people out there just like you who love you and who laugh at the same random stuff that you think is funny. She also is a great role model for me as someone who suffers from an anxiety disorder (and an autoimmune disease), and is constantly reminding me that "Depression is a lying bastard." Also, she has adorable cats (and the cutest kid). If you haven't read Let's Pretend This Never Happened, which is her first book, you should get on that immediately. Seriously. Jenny Lawson, you are awesome. Keep doing what you're doing. :)

This is Josette Plank
Formerly known as "Halushki" online, now just known as Josette... which is her name.

 I have no idea how I found Josette's blog, but I am certainly glad I did. She is always good for a laugh, and she's a riot to follow on Twitter. Even though I'm not a mom, I love the posts she writes about parenting and her kids, because her kids are hysterical and also, she seems like the kind of mom I might want to be someday. She's real, she's warm, and she doesn't let her kids get away with murder (or at least she doesn't blog about it, haha). She's also just a great writer, and who doesn't like that? Go you, Josette!

This is Heather Armstrong, AKA: Dooce
Or is it Dooce, AKA: Heather Armstrong
Either way, she's fab.

I know, you're like, wait, another "mommy blogger"? First of all, I hate that term, let's strike it from the English language entirely. All languages, in fact. There, it's gone. Never again. Dooce is another phenomenal writer who makes me laugh entirely too hard, and once again, I have no idea how I found her blog. She's also a source of inspiration to me due to her own struggles with depression, especially in the realm of how it affected her pregnancy and child-rearing experiences. Her kids are some of the most beautiful I've ever seen, (seriously, look at this baby!) and the events that unfold in this woman's life are some of the most hilarious and heartwarming I've ever read. She's also written a few books, most of which I own and somehow haven't read yet. I should get on that. Yay Heather!

This is Meg, publisher and executive editor of A Practical Wedding
Author of A Practical Wedding

I found A Practical Wedding thanks to a friend of mine, and I started reading it before I got engaged (because it's not just for people planning weddings, I swear!). It's an amazing community that Meg created during her own wedding planning, and it's blossomed into a great place to share wedding planning ideas, thoughts on engagements, weddings, and marriage in general, feminism, and about a hundred other things that can be tangentially related to all of the above. I've met some awesome people through the site, my string trio had the opportunity to play at an event for them (when NY legalized gay marriage, they organized an amazing event), and it's just been a sanity saver so many different times, I can't even think what I would do without it. Meg, you are a force to be reckoned with and the world needs more people like you in it.

This is Liz, of Happy Sighs (and A Practical Wedding)
Photo credit to Maddie of Hart and Sol West

This is my beautiful blogger (and real-life) friend, Liz! She is, in a word, amazing. I met Liz due to my involvement in A Practical Wedding, which, as just mentioned, is one of my favorite websites/blogs/communities/things in existence ever. Liz is an artist/illustrator, who also writes, and also happens to be a mom to one of the cutest little boys I've ever met. You can find her on her own blog, Happy Sighs, or writing out ridiculously good advice over on Ask Team Practical. Another one of the many reasons that Liz is awesome is because, as you can see above, she shaved her head for the St. Baldrick's Foundation and raised over $4,000 for childhood cancer research! And have you seen a more gorgeous woman with a shaved head? I, for one, have not. Liz, I am so glad that we're friends and I am truly inspired by the beautiful person you are, inside and out. Thank you.

So, there are 5 of my favorite bloggers. As part of my "People And Things That are Awesome" feature that I'll be starting, I'll be featuring other people and their blogs (if they have them), as well. Also, if anyone has any good ideas for what to call that feature besides "People and Things That are Awesome", leave it in the comments, because that name, while descriptive, is boring and clunky. If you also have any blogs that you think I need to visit, leave those in the comments, too!

See you later today for Day 6's post, and check out Day 5's link-up here!

- A