My Dearest Beloved Blogs

I received a sweet message the other day.

Big thanks to Courtney from courtney lane for honoring me with the Liebster Blog Award:

"Liebster is a German word, meaning dearest or beloved, but it can also mean favorite. The idea behind the Liebster Blog Award is that it is given to bloggers who have less than 200 followers in order to create new connections and bring attention to these wonderful blogs!"

I'm glad to join in this important effort to promote and encourage new friendships within the blogging community.  Thank you so much, Court, for passing this on to me! 

If you don't know Courtney, she is an interior design student and a life-long lover of homes and homemaking. Her new blog is sweet and sassy. This pic will give you a little taste of what she is all about:

Any girl who sleeps with a spiky treacherous branch looming over her head is alright with me.

Ok, back to this Liebster business. This is how it works:

1. Post the award on your blog.

2. Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.

3. Reveal your 5 picks for the award and let them know.

4. Bask in the love from the most supportive people in the blogosphere... other bloggers.

5. Finally, the best rule of all, have fun and spread the love!

Now here are the five blogs that I would like to honor with the Liebster Blog Award..I hope you'll check them out!

1. Erin and Jess at Two Kitchen Promenade

Delicious looking food that I can actually imagine
making and serving at a normal, everyday dinner?
Sign me up!

Two friends writing about food. Clean, simple recipes that do not disappoint. Photos that are drop dead gorgeous but also realistic enough that I can imagine my own table looking like theirs. A few personal notes, here and there, to wrap a pleasing element of story around the recipes. From what I can tell, this is quite a new blog and I hope it's the beginning of a long and glorious run.

2. Khairul at The Malaysian Reader 

Yes, the Malaysian Reader does judge a book by its cover.
You got a problem with that??

A passionate bookworm living in Southeast Asia, Khairul writes with wit, wisdom and perfect English about what he's reading. While I share his love of literature, his insights into Malaysian culture and his obsession over the physical properties of the books he owns (yes, crisp pages and matching spines DO matter!), I mostly read his blog for the pure joy of his prose. The man knows how to turn a phrase.

3. Emma at aesthetics 

Flying saucers? Flattened satsumas? A mash-up of the solar system?
See ordinary things in an extraordinary way at aesthetics.

This is a simple, stripped-down blog with a purely visual focus. Featuring photos of architecture and other images snatched from everyday life, as well as shots of personal artworks in progress, this blog helps me gain a deeper appreciation for the raw work of making art. 

4. Danelle at Outnumbered 

Real life, real love, real play-by-play on raising a houseful of young men.

I enjoy reading blogs about family life written by women of all ages and stages of life.  But as a mom whose odometer has definitely turned over into six digits, I particularly enjoy hearing from other experienced moms. No longer sitting up at the edges of our chairs, eagerly attentive and giddy with excitement for our children's new milestones and steps along the developmental path, Danelle is the type of mom who has settled comfortably back into her seat to enjoy the ride. Her low-key humor, positive energy, and willingness to surrender to reality make me laugh.

5. Kira at her new leaf

How do you feel about tiny Santa hat fascinators?
 I've decided I am for them.

Technically, this is cheating. According to her current statistics, Kira has 234 followers which makes her 35 people too popular for this award. Well, I've decided to ignore that rule (it's more what you'd call a guideline than an actual rule.) I like her style and so I'm going for it. I stumbled onto this blog the other day when I was innocently Googling for some instruction on favicons. I found her "Primp My Blog" posts to be helpful and clever so I kept reading and discovered more gems, such as: 

• a charming DIY Valentine’s Day Gift: Hand-Painted Mug 
• this simple and usable Printable Weekly Planner
• the highly intriguing How to Shop at Forever 21, Even if you are well past 21 
• and maybe my favorite, Ten Things You Might Not Know about Hanukkah.

Kira chooses an amazing range of subject matter and keeps me thoroughly entertained and wondering what might come next. She inspires me.

What are your dearest and most beloved blogs? Please post a link and tell us about them!