5 ladies who know what they're doing

I think I'm like a lot of folks my age in this way: I've started probably 40-60 personal blogs and have pretty much abandoned them all. With half of them, I don't even remember what they were called or where I would go to find them. They hold little snippets of my life, little diary entries, in some forgotten corner of the Internet. Never to be seen again, the poor things.

So this tells you something about my stick-to-it-ive-ness (which is generally low), but I think it also says something about my fascination with record-keeping and the whole world of blogs. I just can't stay away for long. Something pulls me back again for another try, and another, and another, and another ...

My favorite bloggers these days are ones who are personable but not over-share-y, who present beautiful, thought-provoking, honest things (honest, yes, honesty above all!) that aren't necessarily polished or sparkly.

I've curated a short list of my most inspirational bloggers. There are dozens of other blogs and sites that I enjoy, but these are the ladies whose styles and approaches really jive with my soul (... jive? or is it jibe?), in a way that says, "Yeah, I wanna create something like that."

A Cup of Jo -- A New York City writer, her husband and two boys, and their cozy apartment home. I have serious love for Joanna's Motherhood Around the World series.

exPress-o -- Diana's blog is here and there and everywhere, with recipes, fashion, and all sorts of delicious nuggets of life (life nuggets, if you will).

Deer Circus -- Bridget is too fanciful for words. Seriously, sometimes I'm like, Woman, how do you even exist in the real world? I'm all about her experiments with writing and her fuzzy photographs (fuzzy in the best, best possible way).

Posie Gets Cozy -- Alicia makes things. Her quilting and embroidery and knitting -- oh my. Her writing about nature and her daughter and her home makes me feel all wrapped up in one of those quilts of hers. So cozy, indeed.

Reading My Tea Leaves -- Erin's just the most chill girlfriend ever, I think (and by "girlfriend," I mean "someone I haven't met, but I'm sure we'd be buddies if we did somehow meet someday"). Her series about Life in a Tiny Apartment is so thoughtful and clear.

Un-Fancy -- Remember when I spent all-day-every-day reading about 500 style blogs? Boy, I do. These days, I only keep up with about ten on a regular basis, and Caroline's Un-Fancy is a fairly recent addition. Her simple style is enviable, and I love how she presents fashion in such an approachable way.

These ladies have been showing me the ropes as I've combed through their archives, and as I start this new blog of my own, I'm really digging their examples. We'll see how it all comes together.