Inspiring me to be Fabulous

Thanks to Trop50 for sponsoring my writing about fabulous bloggers. This year Trop50 is granting 50 Fabulous Wishes. Click here to enter for a chance to win $1,000 to celebrate a friend with a refreshing attitude about looking and feeling fabulous!

I have spent many years reading blogs.  I enjoy reading about the goings on in other people's lives (I can do without the TMI that some people blog about, though.)  I have a handful of blogs that I read on a daily basis.  I don't personally know all of the bloggers, but I feel like I do after we leave comments back and forth.

My first fabulous blogger is a no-brainer.  Melisa, from Suburban Scrawl, and I go way back.  In fact, we've been friends for so long that we're like family....our husbands are best friends, our boys are friends, we get together for extended family functions...you get the drift.  We've been friends since 1985 and have been through a lot together.  She was the first person I told I was pregnant (I had to send Scott a telegram because he was deployed.)  I could go on and on, but that would take up the entire post.  ;)  

Melisa is fabulous for so many reasons.  One reason is when I wrote my first blog post, she sent her blogger friends over to read it and to comment.  How sweet was that? Another reason is that she turned her blogging into a writing career.  She wrote a book a few years ago about dealing with the loss of a pet.  The beautiful dog that was featured in the book was her beloved beagle Bijoux.  Recently, she wrote a travel guide and her launch party is next week.  I'm so excited and proud!  She's my tiara-wearing friend and I love her!

Ringing in 2011 together.

The Pioneer Woman is another fabulous blogger.  Her name is Ree, but I refer to her as PDub.  Ok, so maybe I don't call her that to her face.  In fact, the time that I met her, I was so star-struck that I got verklempt and suddenly got diarrhea of the mouth and couldn't. shut. up.  It was as if I was bound and determined to tell her my life story in the time it took her to sign 5 copies of her cookbook.

I love her blog!  She has a cooking section (with step-by-step recipes), a photography section, a homeschooling section, a home and garden section, and a section for just everyday blogging.  The photographs she takes are breathtaking.  I love to see the animals on her ranch and I especially love reading about her punks and about her basset hounds Charlie and Walter.  (Oh, and her husband Marlboro Man is especially easy on the eyes, if you know what I mean...wink wink).  Ree is going to have a cooking show on The Food Network.  I can't wait to watch!

This is the only picture I have of the two of us with my mouth closed.  Seriously.

Another fabulous blogger is one of my friends that I met on a message board about 10 years ago.  Betsy is a young mommy of 3 precious little boys.  The name of her blog is The Peculiar Homemaker.  I love reading the recipes that she posts in her blog, hearing about how her family is growing, and the fun things she does with her boys.  She's a stay-at-home mom who knows how to stretch a dollar and makes it seem effortless.  She is fabulous because she takes care of her three boys, cooks from scratch, and has at-home date nights with her husband, The Tomato King.  Betsy, you're the Best-y!  ;)

Next on my list is Liz from This Full House.  I've mentioned her on here a few times.  She posted an accent vlog and I posted an accent vlog and we made fun of each others' accents (although I have no accent and she's from Jersey...'nough said.)  The thing with Liz...I've never met her and only know her through our blogs and other social networking sites, but I feel like I know her, know her.  Make sense?

Liz is hilarious as she tells stories about her husband Garth (not his real name), 4 children, and one Doofus Dog all living in a 7 room house.  Because I was also raised in a small house, reading her blog is so comforting to me for some reason.  Liz, I want to come visit!   She is fabulous for many reasons, but one reason is that she can even make folding laundry sound fun!

Liz and Melisa at the blogging function...2 of my fabulous bloggers together.

My fifth fabulous blogger, (and it was hard to narrow it down to just 5) is Lincee Ray from ihategreenbeans.  I can't remember when I first started reading her blog.  I may have heard of her from tv?  I'm not sure.  Anyway, she is a huge fan of a certain dating show.  She posts recaps the day after the show airs.  If you don't watch the show or even like reality tv, it's still fun to read her blog, because the show can be a trainwreck.  However, I like those types of programs (they make me feel normal), so I watch the show and then read her blog the next day.  Good times.  She is fabulous because she can take a sometimes boring episode and make it hilarious with her recap.  She's the type of person I could hang out with! 

Don't forget to enter the 50 Fabulous Wishes contest for a chance to win $1,000 to celebrate a friend with a refreshing attitude about looking and feeling fabulous. I was selected for this Tropicana Trop50 sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do. I received compensation to use and facilitate my post.