Friday Five: My Favorite Blogs

Welcome back to another Friday Five with Mar, Cynthia, and Courtney! This week's theme: Five Blogs to Read. 

I read a ton of blogs throughout the week, so I thought I'd change it up a bit and suggested some of my favorites across categories. Once upon a time, I'd have to remember to go to each blog a few times a week, but several years ago I started using the now defunct Google Reader. I was so upset when they discontinued the service, but feed.ly is a nice replacement. So, without future ado, I give you My Favorite Blogs in Five Categories:

Craft & Home

This is where my blog love began. I was following too many craft blogs to keep straight and my Google Reader would routinely have over 1,000 posts per week. As with Fashion below, I've carefully curated my collection. My top choice for DIY projects is A Beautiful Mess. When I started reading, it was just Emma and Elsie, but they have a small staff of contributors and crank out the DIYs. I've also become a big fan of enJOY it because I relate to her drive and organization. I'm all about progress vs. perfection and very jealous she is able to work from home (she works very hard). Someday... Finally, I don't have kids, but I enjoy the projects on what used to be called "Book Hour Craft Projects" but is apparently now called bloesem kids. Either way, their projects are simple, but beautiful. I follow a few home blogs, but one of my favorites is the Ohio-based House*Tweaking. When I started following she lived in a McMansion, but soon made the decision to move into a smaller home that needed a lot of work. Dana and her husband are super hands-on and can accomplish a lot on a budget. She had a great eye for interior decorating and it's been fun to watch the new house take shape.

A Beautiful Mess, enJOY it, bloesem kids, House*Tweaking

Fashion

I used to looooove fashion blogs. I also used to spend a lot of money on clothes. I don't do that anymore and I began to grow tired of obviously sponsored posts for brands the ladies would never touch otherwise. (I want bloggers to make $$, but I want to feel like they actually love what they're peddling.) Despite that hiccup, I've stayed loyal to some great fashion bloggers. Gigi has a million clothing and accessory reviews... and a really cool job. Franziska is a medical student with a taste for classics (and fun medical facts). The Budget Babe has the scoop on the hottest new collaborations and scopes out stores like Target and TJMaxx for new arrivals. (I don't really like her contributors, but I stick around because I love the original BB.)

Art & Design

I used to follow a million design blogs (hmmm I'm noticing a theme) but it got to be a bit stressful. It was hard to keep up with the volume of posts and design fatigue set it. Everything was starting to look the same. If I had to suggest one design blog, I'd probably start with Swiss-miss because she does a good job curating other posts around the web. On the art side, I follow a lot of illustrators on feed.ly and tumblr. Some of my favorite art blogs include: Draw Adrian Draw!, Melinda Boyce, Simini Blocker, and Courtney Godbey. I also follow a bajillion illustrators on twitter. I'd recommend Gemma Correll,  Cory Godbey, Jason Caffoe, Teressa Ong.... I have so many more. Two great round-ups of illustrators: Sketch Dailies and Illustrated Ladies.

Teressa Ong and Simini Blocker

Running

Running blogs are a new thing for me. Besides Mar, Cynthia, and Courtney, I follow a handful of runners on feed.ly and twitter. I enjoy reading about people (mainly ladies) in a similar pace-range. Even though I've never signed up for a Disney race, I really enjoy Fairytales and Fitness and We Run Disney. I think it's fun getting two perspective on one blog. I also enjoy Run Away With Me because Kristen frequently posts about interesting topics/challenges and Alaska looks amazing.

Miscellaneous

I know, "miscellaneous" is so sloppy, but there are some blogs I follow that I can't categorize. 9Eyes contains weird and wonderful images from Google Street View (he seems to be on a bit of a crime kick lately. Yikes.). To keep things light and fluffy, I follow Pleated Jeans and Tastefully Offensive GIFs on tumblr to stay up-to-date on my memes and cat GIFs. And finally, to stay in touch with nature while on a computer, I love Sanborn Canoe Company and the tiny houses and cabins on Cabinology.

9eyes, Cabinology, Sanborn Canoe Company

That concludes this week's Friday Five! A little wordy, but I stand by my recommendations. Thanks for joining me and go visit the hosts to see who they recommend! :)