Blog Roll

Not only am I an avid DIYer and weak DIY blogger, I am also a DIY blog reader. I follow a whole slew of blogs faithfully. I don't have time to read them every day, but I check a few times a week to get caught up on the home improvement madness. I also love to cook-- er, eat and bake, so I follow several cooking and baking blogs as well. These gems are where I get most of my inspiration, so I thought I'd share with you in a little blog roll. Maybe we could say roll blog and that could be a new catch phrase like "Roll Tide." What does that mean anyway? Back to the point at hand... "Roll Blog."


Home Improvement:
7th House on the Left
Ashley and Greg are the owners of this wonderful space. They tackle some DIY projects themselves but also hire some out like with their current kitchen remodel. I appreciate a homeowner who knows when to call in reinforcements. I love weekly features like His&Hers Favorites plus Ashley has impeccable taste and graphic design.

Ana White
Ana is a stay at home mom and intense furniture builder. She provides 'Knock Off Wood' building plans for various projects, including those seen in expensive catalogs like West Elm. She's also building a Momplex (duplex for 2 moms) for her mom and mother-in-law. That's right, she's building a duplex home AND this isn't the first home she and her husband have built from the ground up. If she isn't a baller, I don't know who is.

Bower Power
Courtesy of Katie Bower. She's a stay at home mom, photographer, and DIY blogger. I follow her posts primarily for the hilarity. She's also an incredible photographer if you live in Georgia!

I Heart Organizing
Jen, a woman after my own heart. She is intense, an in awesome way. Every single drawer and cabinet of her kitchen is organized. She has incredible storage ideas that are not only functional but also gorgeous. The ideas are so inspiring. She comes up with incredible ways to store and organize everything from mundane items to seasonal decor.

Living with Lindsay
I think I'm in love with this woman for showing me my two favorite painting strategies here and here. Lindsay has fantastic advice when it comes to painting. She helps perfectionists like me function and overcome sloppy paint lines!

Love and Renovations
This Austin-based couple has a weekly feature called Friday Finds. I absolutely LOVE this because Amanda finds amazing pieces on Craigslist. Of course she doesn't always buy them, but she highlights a cheap treasure that can be turned into gold- or her favorite color, yellow.

Our Humble Abowed
Amanda and her husband Ben are avid DIYers. So much so that they are even building their own kitchen cabinets. Are you kidding me? Building your own cabinets!? That brings a whole new meaning to the phrase "do-it-yourself."

Young House Love
My favorite, my obsession, my love. John and Sherry tackle some intense projects like their current kitchen renovation. They started as novice DIYers like us but have evolved into a two-person full-time blogging team with a book deal and multiple side gigs. And best of all, they are frugal with impeccable style! John and Sherry always keep it real and share every last detail of a project, including pricing. This has been a helpful resource for us for everything from how much does this cost to how do we do that? It begs the question, how do they do it all?


Crafting:

Crafted Love
Allison Kaye is a Miami student and Ohio native. She blogs about all things crafty and it's awesome! My friend, Kathy, shared her blog with me. She's also planning a wedding, so expect some great DIY there. She also has some great blog design tips as well. I need to take a page out of her book and use some of those ideas!

How About Orange
Jessica Jones is a graphic designer. She makes gorgeous fabrics (my lunch tote is a fabulous example purchased from Etsy). She's full of small projects, desktop wallpapers, and printables.


Food:

Eat, Drink, & Be Married
Leah is someone I know in real life and might be all things Cincinnati. She maintains an incredible food blog of her own cooking as well as reviews of local restaurants.

The Girl Who Ate Everything
I love this blog because it's a great compilation of solid homestyle cooking. Of course, she has my favorite, dessert, thrown in there too! These are real crowd pleasers that any family will love.

Joy the Baker
Baking, my sweet, sweet love. Nom nom nom. The photos are just as gorgeous as the baked goods. I also love that Joy is keeping it real in the kitchen.

Pearls, Handcuffs, and Happy Hour
I've found some pretty fantastic recipes on this blog recently, including the Dorito casserole that we will be making for dinner tomorrow (that's right Allen, Bishop, Jicinsky, and Strickland families!) We'll see how it turns out. :)

Smitten Kitchen
Yummy yummy. There's certainly a mix of recipes here. Deb breathes new life into traditional recipes and flavors. You always see on the Food Network programs like Chopped that chefs are over-complicating things. Deb is definitely putting together wholesome recipes without fussy ingredients.


Miscellaneous:

The Bernout
You've seen L on the blog before. She's a friend IRL (in real life). I adore seeing photos of her daughter, Rivka, husband, the Professor, and dog, Marshall. L and I have a constant back and forth about various happenings in the blogosphere. Love her!

Coach Amy
Amy is someone I know in real life, so although I am a terrible runner, she gives great advice for those who are interested in the sport. I value her strategies to manage life, family, and work. I also enjoy her tips that apply to every day workouts.

Maybe if You Just Relax
I confess that I have not been reading this blog long. My friend, L, shared it on her blog, the Bernout and I had to take a peek. I almost died laughing, so I think I'm hooked.

Pinterest
Okay, this isn't a blog, but I absolutely love it. This website allows you to pin favorite websites, images, or ideas to a virtual bulletin board. You can write your own comments and maintain various boards (Sweet Treats, Bathroom Ideas, etc.). This is a great tool so you don't find yourself asking, "Now where did I find that ____ recipe that one time 6 weeks ago? Honey, you don't remember do you?" If you're interested, let me know and I'll send you an invite!

Queer Skies Ahead
This blog is maintained by a dog trainer with the pen name Bird. Bird married her same-sex partner Turtle a year ago and has been documenting their adventures ever since. This blog is some about their life and a lot about dogs. Of course I love it. Bird has extensive knowledge on dog behavior and training.

Random Musings
Yet another person I know in real life. Jing maintains this blog of weird stuff that entertains her. She's weird, so that entertains me. She's going to be travellin' the world like Carmen San Diego soon, so keep an eye out for that.


Whew, okay that's a lot. Again, I don't read them every day, but I do try to catch up with them a few times a week. I hope you enjoy some of my favorite web hangouts! Of course, add The Whites to your favorites or RSS feed too!