blogspiration

I let my blog go a bit dormant during this spring semester. That tends to happen most semesters, though. Between weeks 5 and 12 I get so overwhelmed because I do so much stuff all the time. I should probably just blog about that stuff, but how interesting is reading about the trials and tribulations of graduate school?

But even though I haven't been updating my blog regularly I do check other blogs quite a bit. And it kind of hit me… why not use blogs I love as inspiration for my own blog? Or at least talk about what I love and hopefully get more of you interested in some other fantastic blogs out there with a great variety of content and personality?

1. Love Elycia


I'm not sure how I stumbled upon Love Elycia… I think she was a featured blogger on ModCloth at some point and her style and humor got me interested in checking her blog. Every day. She doesn't update every day but for some reason I sit down at a computer and head to her site not long afterwards.

She has great outfit posts, a similar body type to mine (though I think her stature is shorter/narrower than mine), and she crochets! She also does adorable vlogs about her life, her cats, outfits, makeup, and blogging. And she's just overall adorable.

Favorite posts:
- And Her Name Is…
- What We Wore :: Snowflakes
- Thrift Find :: The Donnybrook

2. A Beautiful Mess


I think I found this site through ModCloth as well! Shocking. Emma and Elsie are super cute sisters that run a vintage shop in the Midwest and are just adorable all the time. Emma posts lots of great recipes, about 40% of which are vegan (not a researched number, just a general impression). I love Elsie's house and it makes me wish I lived in a house that I could repaint and decorate! Maybe someday…

Favorite posts:
- Hanging Basket Garden
- Root Beer Float Cupcakes
- DIY Industrial Record Cabinet


3. Hipstercrite


I think Lauren, a.k.a. Hipstercrite, and I moved to Austin around the same time. We're both transplants, both in awe of Austin's food and culture, both love media, and both are baffled by style bloggers (even though I love reading them, clearly) and how Austin can be related in some way tangentially to the rest of the state of Texas. Or at least that's the impression I get.

Lauren co-wrote the screenplay for Loves Her Gun, a film that premiered at SXSW in 2013. It turns out her boyfriend/partner/bff is a professor of film in the RTF department at UT, which is pretty cool. I don't hang out over there much but all the RTF folks are swell and really good at what they do. Her efforts to make it as a writer in Austin inspired me to push myself and my writing in town. She motivated me to apply to write for The Horn, where I'm now the Lifestyle Editor. It's helped build up my confidence in non-academic writing, which led me to contributing to Vérité Film Mag, a new venture in my life!

But above all of that, she's funny, well-informed, creative, and just does fun stuff all the time. And clearly understands life in Austin more than I do. Maybe someday I'll get out more.

Favorite posts:
- What I Wore Today: Crocs
- Love is The Digestive Cacophony of Eating a Large Mexican Meal
- Why I Can't Touch Other Women

4. The Beauty Department


Maybe less blogspiration and more stylespiration? Randomly stumbling upon TBD a few years ago has been one of the best little accidents of my life. I remember being really frustrated that I had no control over my hair and finally turned to the internet for some help. I was searching for a good method for blowdrying hair. Those of you that know me know that I have really dark, thick, corse hair, so I was always battling it to get it to do, well, anything. Finally I found their basic blowout, which really changed my hair completely. It magically become smooth, manageable, and able to be styled. Not long after that they posted their hair bootcamp, and that helped immensely as well, because it taught me the cold-rinse trick after conditioning and to use moisturizing shampoo and conditioner. All the time.

TBD also encouraged me to get more adventurous with my makeup. Their catty-eye post is still bookmarked in my browser. And the inner-eyelid eyeliner trick has become a staple of my daily routine. They also made it seem so easy to wave and curl hair that I started doing that as well! And now I just want my hair long all the time so I can style it in all sorts of fun ways by following their tutorials.

Also I'm not sure if you can tell from this post, but I'm a bit hair-obsessed!

Favorite posts:
- A Clean Canvas
- Get Catty
- Incognito Eye Definition

What are your favorite blogs? And favorite posts? How do you find out about them and what makes you want to check for updates every day?

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