What I've been reading

While I have taken a little break from writing on my blog, I haven't taken a break from reading your blogs! I hope to get back on the posting wagon soon, but in the meantime, check out some great posts I have read recently, and let me know what you have been reading that you love. (The hyperlink of their name will take you to the homepage, and the link of the post or topic will take you straight to the post I am talking about.)

I first heard about The Tutu Project on a clip from the Today Show. A man takes pictures of himself in a pink tutu. Sounds funny? He does this to raise money for breast cancer patients (of which his wife was one), and hopes to bring joy to others. My favorite part is that the images are particularly vulnerable and are very emotional.

I really enjoy TheBloggess (hilariously inappropriate) and she led me to likethevodka.com . The writer of likethevodka married a Russian man (a very patient man, nonetheless), and she writes about their adventures. If you are in for a laugh, check out this post about eating bear.

On a much more serious note, the article "Why Women Still Can't Have It All" by Anne-Marie Slaughter is fabulous. It is long- but worth the time to sit down and read. Ms. Slaughter left her high profile government job for a less demanding job at Princeton. The article is not about whether women should stay home or go to work, but rather about how we can change society to be more accepting of allowing women a balance that they desire in work and family life. Read it! (And I would love to know what you think!)

I've been checking in regularly with The Happiness Project. It has some simple and great ideas for maximizing happiness, and I especially like her Secrets of Adulthood, especially since I am now finding out that they are indeed true.

On the religious note, I was really impressed by this sacrament talk posted at EmpoweringLDSWomen. It is all about Dogmatism and Pragmatism in the Gospel and finding the right balance, and loving the other side.

The above blogs are all by people that I don't know (and wish I did!), but I actually spend most of my time reading blogs by people I am lucky enough to know. Here are a few that have really interested me.

My friend Jeanette (who has always been my blogging hero) said a small goodbye to her blog-or at least goodbye to the demands of a money-making-post-all-the-time-always-trying-to-be-interesting-blog and now focusing on doing it for fun. She makes a lot of great points about how blogs can sometimes be less than we hope they are in her bloggy farewell.

I have been struggling with my own weight-loss/self-image issues since having my second child and I have two friends who have posted thoughts that have really helped me. First, my high school friend April wrote about having a post-baby body and viewing her different body as wiser. That perspective really helped me. (She also wrote an awesome post about her and husband getting out of a lot of debt here.) I have watched my friend Azylynn as she has gone through her "weight loss/regain/lose again (ongoing) struggle." I have talked with her about, but I was impressed that she was brave enough to post about it. But it seems to me that when someone writes a post that places them in a vulnerable place, it really connects with others. I am so glad she shared her journey!

My friends Matt and Holli have to be one of the greatest couples in the world, and their blog completely reflects that! I love that they both write on their blog- so you get both perspectives and two different writing voices. They write about cooking, thrifting adventures (kindred spirit!), and parenting. I have really been enjoying their "Summer of Ice Cream" series where they make their own ice cream in unique flavors. I think I wanted to lick the screen to try their Bacon Ice Cream.  

Oh, and this is a video, but I am in love with Rebecca Loebe and her music, and she has a new album coming out in September. Here is a video premiere of one of her new songs that I listen to a ridiculous amount of time each day. If feel so kindred to her. Her new song is fabulous- go give it a listen.


So, what have you been reading on the interwebs lately?