Recently my friend Jenn asked if I’d do a roundup of my favorite blogs, mostly because she wanted to know some of the resources that have shaped my views about marriage, parenting, and hospitality. It’s always fun to know what inspires your friends, don’t you think?
Well, I thought about it, and I realized I don’t read very many blogs that specifically address any of these things. I don’t read blogs that are faith-based, and I don’t read blogs that take themselves very seriously. However, all of the blogs I do read tend to have common themes that influence my marriage, parenting, and hospitality. Those themes are:
Life is brutal and beautiful (thank you, Glennon), your husband is your best friend, your kids deserve your respect and your adoration, and the happiest place in the world is [often] a dinner table with friends and family.
The really deep stuff — the nuts and bolts and wisdom of parenting, marriage, and opening up your home — I find in great books, wise friends, and my own husband. Probably you’d say the same? (But if you do know good blogs for these things, please share!)
So anyway, without further ado, my favorite blogs:
Motherhood is Crazy (& Wonderful)
Camp Patton, aka Grace, for her ability to make me laugh till I cry. She’s a young mom of soon-to-be five (!!!) kids and wife to a medical resident, and her life revolves around feeding her children and going to Costco in order to feed said children. She has admirable fashion sense and flair for the dramatic, and her posts are always the first I read. This is one of my favorite posts by her. Her Instagram is fun too.
Love Taza because hers was the first blog I ever read regularly and because we lived on Capitol Hill together with our baby daughters at the same time (although I didn’t find that out till after the fact…). She’s sunny and kind and loves being a mother, which is refreshing as well as inspiring. Plus it’s fun to get an inside view into a family’s life in NYC.
Kate Baer for her amazing monthly music playlists, her honest writing about motherhood and womanhood, her short and poignant posts (definitely not my strong suit!), and her pretty Instagram feed. She challenges me.
Tulips & Flightsuits because Mary is a fellow UVA grad and a military wife, and because she writes so beautifully about what is good and true in this life. She doesn’t blog often because she just had her second baby, but whatever she writes strikes a chord. Her archives of her newlywed life are so fun, too!
Glennon of Momastery because of this. And this. And THIS.
Life is Lovely
Dear Friend for the beauty in Anna’s soul that infuses her blog and pictures and clothing and home decor and life! Hers is my favorite Instagram feed, maybe because she lives in Boston. She’s getting married in June!
Reading My Tea Leaves for Erin’s focus on simple, beautiful objects and clearing out flashy clutter. She lives with her husband in a tiny apartment in NYC and just had a baby, and I really respect a lot of the choices she makes about “things.”
Tales of Me and the Husband because Bridget also has great taste and honest words. More points for Boston, too!
Accomplished Women
Modern Mrs. Darcy, aka Anne, because her tagline (“redefining the accomplished woman”) is so awesome and so broad, as is her blog. However, she focuses primarily on books, and her recommendations are spot on. She’s never led me astray in what to read, and my reading list is heavily populated by her favorites now.
A Cup of Jo because it’s like reading a smart but relevant women’s lifestyle magazine in tiny doses every day.
Putting Me Together for her budget-friendly style advice and clothing round-ups.
So Creative!
The Purl Bee because everything they make is so gorgeous and — usually — so simple. Their abundant free patterns for knitting, sewing, quilting, and embroidery make them my #1 resource for patterns and inspiration.
Camellia Fiber Company because her knitting is everything that knitting should be: warm, beautiful, homespun, and filled with love.
(I do not read one single cooking/foodie blog. Bad or good?!)
Friendly Hall of Fame
Our Beautiful Mess which belongs to our favorites, the Arthur family. Her weekly portraits of her children are a labor of love and capture their personalities so well!
Joy of Jo which belongs to my dear friend Johanna, who just started a cooking blog with delicious, homegrown recipes.
Flourish by Esther which belongs to lovely Esther, a magnificent photographer and deep, thoughtful soul.
Journeys of Jax and Oliver which belongs to my college friend Jen. She has beautifully chronicled her son’s successful recovery from scoliosis!
Jumbled Up Joy which belongs to my internet friend Joy, homeschooling mother of soon-to-be FIVE and the first person I’d want to see in Hawaii.
Live in Love and Love to Live which belongs to another internet friend, Carrie, who is raising her family in Mexico, and blogging beautifully about it, too!
Happily Married… to the Cows! Alica lives on a farm in Amish Country in Pennsylvania, and some days I want her life and some days I don’t. ;) She blogs faithfully and honestly about life on a small dairy farm.
… and more that I know I’m missing! … and there are so many friends out there that I wish would blog!
But are blogs becoming a thing of the past? Maybe…? Do you read fewer blogs than you used to? I’ve been wondering this lately.
Curious to hear your thoughts and your favorite blogs!
You’ve got a great collection of favorites! Some of these are favorites of mine too — Love Taza, Modern Mrs. Darcy, The Purl Bee. :)
Another long-time favorite of mine is Eat, Live, Run {https://www.eatliverun.com}. She’s a foodie, but also a Christian mama, who writes very insightful posts and very yummy recipes! I think you would like her too.
Haha, love that you love some of those, too! And thanks for the recommendation. I’ve heard of her before and need to go back and read again!
Aww, you’re sweet! I never expected to see my blog on your list, but I’m honored! I always look forward to seeing new posts from you too.
This is one of those weeks that you might (or might not) want my life. We’ve had a slew of fresh cows, and we’re running out of room for them and their babies. :)
At the very least I wish we could walk around and let the kids see them all! Elliott and I have said we’d love to visit if ever we’re passing through PA. :)
Please do!! We’re not that far from Virginia, sometime when you’re visiting your folks! 3 hrs maybe?
So honored to be included in this list of wonderful bloggers (many of whom I also love). Thank you, friend!!
Of course! :) xoxo
oh Becca, what a sweet little surprise! You are too kind, my friend.
xo
I loved putting you friends down. :) Love ya.
I am curious to check these out! I also read Cup of Jo, but all the others are new to me. I like Design Mom (which is how I discovered your blog) and Soule Mama, written by a mother of five who lives on a farm in Maine. I also really enjoy David Lebovitz’s blog. I think you read one of his books. I especially enjoy reading about his take on life in Paris through American eyes. I check out Smitten Kitchen when I am looking for recipe ideas.
Overall, I do read fewer blogs than before and I am really trying to only spend time on the blogs that I really enjoy and connect with on some level. I have been trying to cut down computer time and I worry about spending too much time reading about other people’s lives and then not spending enough time enjoying my own :)
I should follow David Lebovitz’s! I loved his book and want to read more by him. I feel like I go through cycles on blogs; I read “Design Mom” faithfully twice now, and have taken a couple breaks, and one day I’ll be totally back into reading her posts again. Faithful bloggers must have fans like that, I think. :) And bloggers go through cycles too! So it’s all fair.
high praise being on this list!!! You’re the very best, Becca. Excited to explore all the new ones!!! Thank you!!!
Grace, you’re so kind to come over here and comment. Thanks for the love!
Aww, thanks so much for the shout-out!!! You know I’d meet you at the airport with much “Aloha” if you ever come here! And please do!! :-)
This is a great list! I’ve found so much good reading — online and in pages — because of your blog. I would add Un-Fancy, and a couple other minimalism blogs I’m kind of into at the moment (Be More With Less, Nourishing Minimalism, etc.), Big Mama (totally not minimalist, so funny), The Tiny Twig, and Chatting at the Sky.
I actually have started reading Big Mama lately and love her Fashion Friday roundups! I need to start reading more of her posts. I’ve seen some of Un-Fancy and can’t fathom her budget, but I do love her style. Lots of good blogs out there… thanks for the recs!
Haha! I know what you’re saying! A few Un-Fancy posts are so “before kids” that they’ve made me laugh out loud. But still good for general inspiration, I think.
I thought of another great blog — A Perfect Lily. She has 11 (!!) kids, and her 10th (Lily) was born with Downs. I just love reading her perspective, and she is so real but inspiring at the same time. Also, Mama Knows Honeychild is hilarious, but some of her posts have gone straight to my heart (after I laughed till I cried).
I hope blogs aren’t a thing of the past! I know some people are kind of using Instagram as the rest of us would a blog, but it confuses (and maybe bugs) me just a little to read what would be a page of writing with a picture. I don’t understad why… The two platforms seemed to have very different purposes to me.
so, so honored to be included & so grateful to have found your voice (and all we have in common!)
The vice is also versa, Mary. :)
How did I miss this? Thank you for including me – you are so sweet! I love reading your blog and following along with your family’s adventures too!