Blog Love
My grandparents, Kenny & Ella – weren’t they so stinkin’ cute??
We spent yesterday celebrating my grandmother’s 80th birthday with all of my mom’s crazy, loud, entertaining family. If you want to know where my silly comes from…that’s it! My aunts tell inappropriate jokes, my cousins make me laugh until I think I’m gonna pee, and my grandma just sits there and rolls her eyes because she thinks we’re all nuts.
Hope all you kids are being helpful & sweet and all you mamas are having a relaxing day.
Here are my favorite links from this week…
Love Amber’s post on running at 200 mile relay >>>
A good rundown on protein powders >>> and my new favorite protein bars – 20g of protein and they taste like a candy bar! >>>
3 tips to slay your shyness >>>
Anna is learning a new craft every month – love her idea for crafting with a mentor >>>
Cara just launched the site for her books The Wasted Series >>>
For days when you ate pancakes for breakfast and KFC for dinner and really do not feel like getting off your ass (aka me on Friday) – the 7 minute workout (via Cup of Jo) >>>
I’ve been loving Kristin’s blog – she works in India for a surgery-based NGO that repairs cleft lips and palates free of cost >>>
5 Comments / Posted in blog love
Favorite Fonts
I have album after album filled with fonts I love, but I just don’t have enough projects to use them all. I thought I’d share my favorites with you and maybe a few of them will get a little internet love :)
Metroscript / Patrick Hand / Baronessa / Sherbet BF / Grand Hotel / Canterbury Sans Light
Thank you for your thoughtful comments on my blogging bandwagon post. I was a little unsure about publishing that, but I can see I’m not the only one wondering why the blogosphere has gotten so bland! And thank you for your support of my ebook – it makes me even more excited to finish it and launch. All you peeps are making me a very happy blogger this week :)
9 Comments / Posted in design
Nerd Party ebook launching May 21
OK, it’s time! I’m super excited (and slightly anxious) to announce that my ebook will be available for purchase on Tuesday, May 21!! Of course if you’ve joined my mailing list you’ll be able to get your hot little hands on it the Friday before :)
I’ve been writing and coding a bunch of brand new tutorials over the past month and am trying to keep my perfectionist tendencies out of the way so I can get this thing finished for you all. Just a few more pages to go and it will be ready!
My brand new XO Sarah site will launch in the next week, which will include a few more details as to what’s inside and I’ll be giving away a few copies as well, so stay tuned!
11 Comments / Posted in blogging, products
How to get off the blogging bandwagon
Dear internet – it’s time to get off the band wagon. I know I’ve written about this before and I will probably write about it again, but it’s something that drives me absolutely crazy. I keep seeing the same exact outfits, DIY projects, recipes, even the style of writing repeated through blog after blog. I’m BORED.
We’re all crammed into this tiny bubble of blogging, tweeting, Instagramming. It makes us so aware of what other people are doing all the time, intentionally or not, we end up mimicking each other.
It’s like when you watch a TV series all in one go – hours and hours where all the actors have southern accents or British accents and you find your voice and thoughts beginning to sound like they’re part of the show.
We’re so consumed by what other people are doing that we’ve started absorbing it into our lives and our blogs.
I used to follow over a hundred blogs and now that number is dwindling as they all mush together into the same repetitive boring slop. I don’t want to do what everyone else is doing just because they have tons of followers and comments. I want to do what I like. I’m not into vintage dresses and clunky shoes and taking pictures on coffee dates. I’m into stripes and combat boots and taking pictures of my growing muscles.
And I’m not writing because something is “soooo cuuuuuteee” and promoting shopping lists from my sponsors, I’m writing because I want to help people make their sites bad ass, take risks, chase their passions and not wake up in two years thinking “Crap…why didn’t I start this sooner?”
I’m not saying my tutorials are first-offs and no one has ever written about coding and escaping a day job, hundreds of people have, but I don’t follow any of those people. I don’t watch what other developers are writing and I only follow a few designers. I listen to my readers & clients and see what issues they are running into and then I post tutorials to help them, not to keep up everyone else and their perfect internet lives.
So how to you stay true to yourself? First off, remember there is not one other person EVER who will see things the way you do and say things the way you do and it’s a shame for you to waste your time taking on the traits of people online to build some image of the perfect person.
(I’m not perfect – I was extremely crabby on Friday, danced until I was sweaty and my feet were numb on Saturday and spent Sunday morning rehearsal laying on a landing mat because hanging upside down and spinning sounded like a horrible idea.)
Take a few weeks away from reading blogs, tweeting, pinning, Instagramming to find your voice. Would you really love the things you love & write the things you write if you weren’t being bombarded the same posts/pins/tweets over and over every day? Share what comes from your heart instead of reposting the things that are trending online in the hope that your blog will grow.
Do you know how the biggest bloggers became popular? They were not afraid to be authentic, put themselves out there and share what they love even if it wasn’t popular at the time. They knew that not everyone would like them or what they had to say and they were confident enough and loved themselves enough to be who they are anyway.
I don’t follow bloggers who make me want to be more like them, I follow bloggers who inspire me to me more like ME. Here are a few of my favorites who appear to truly follow the beat of their very own drum & don’t give a shit about what everyone else is doing…Sarah, Kathleen, Danielle, Veronica.
Who are your favorite authentic, inspiring bloggers?
48 Comments / Posted in blogging, life
Blog Love
A few days ago Cheryl and I met up so she could photograph a few bands and I was blown away by the awesomeness (and back-up dancers) of Tunde. I was just expecting to hang out while she shot, but he definitely earned a new fan :)
Rookie mag shows you how to dye EVERYTHING (now if only I had clothing that wasn’t black…) >>>
Becka shared how you should keep going even if things don’t work out on the first or second try >>>
17 ways to be proud of yourself in a year (via Yes and Yes) >>>
Georgia shared a recipe for her super-healthy superfoods breakfast sprinkle >>>
Molly wrote about failing and keeping faith in yourself >>>
My friend Brad makes these super cool, crazy dyed shoes – perfect for summer >>>
Eco-friendly mother’s day gifts >>>
Another Mother’s Day gift idea – brown sugar scrub >>>
Tara wrote about how to get what you want and love what you have >>>
A good lesson to remember as adults >>>
Parents who totally nailed it (via Cup of Jo) >>>
Shell posted posts from her trip to Japan >>>
Sarah shared her 4-step plan to feel better >>>
Mandy posted a drink recipe that sounds perfect after a long work day >>>
How to know if your idea is a winner >>>
30+ confidence vitamins to pump you up >>>
86-year-old gymnast – you can do anything you put your mind to >>>
2 Comments / Posted in blog love
Fix-It Friday
Happy Friday! Let’s end of week on a high note and give your site a bit of a boost.
Leave your URL in the comments and I’ll respond with one tip on how to improve your site. Or ask me anything you like – short questions will be answered, longer questions will be filed away for future Nerd Party posts.
As usual I’ll respond to all comments posted between 8AM and 8PM ET.
Ready, set, GO!
36 Comments / Posted in nerd party
