Stylish Blogger Award!

In recent news: I was given the Stylish Blogger Award by Stephanie of The-Loudmouth.com! It's my first award since I began this blog, so I was really thrilled. It was actually given to me last month, but honestly, I didn't have that many blogs that I was following at the time and didn't want to just randomly choose people to give the award to!  I've been trying to have a public blog for a while, but it took me forever to find a topic that I was passionate about that was okay for the general public!

I know its kinda 'gimmicky' but I enjoyed going through and catching up with my favorite bloggers, so let me share them with you!

Here are the criteria for the award. I have to:

1. Thank and link back to the person who gave you the award.

2. Share 7 things about yourself.

3. Award to 15 recently discovered bloggers.

4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about this award.
Now, none of these steps say to do this, but I'd first like to express why I'm giving this award to the following ladies.  I personally like to read blogs by people who are either further ahead in a similar journey (ie: clean eating) or living a life far different from mine (ie: the-loudmouth, mowhawed maven, etc.), or people who have a lot of... color, a lot of style and interesting things to talk about. 

I like bloggers who are on a similar journey via health and/or fitness who blog with reality and not some unattainable perfection... and they bring themselves to it, not just some obsession with bodily perfection.  


Basically, I respect "real" people who aren't afraid to post the good and the bad, who have a sense of humor and inspire me.

The bloggers that meet this criteria, in my opinion, are as follows:

1. Jen at myp90xjourney for her amazing fitness journey.  She looks awesome, too:)
2. Tasha at Clean Eating Momma for her amazing inspirations.  Her recipes are awesome
3. Helen Marie at fucancer who blogged her journey with cancer in such a real way, with such wonderful snarky humor, strength and reality, I couldn't stop thinking about it or reading it after I saw her first post. 
4. Mohawked Maven, whom I met very recently on LJ and is a sideshow performer and artist like I've never met before.  Its not often that I meet someone who is as strange and unusual as I am!
5. Spiciefoodie is another recent find.  I actually started following her because of her amazing food photography tips.  She has a way of explaining things in such a great, visual way, with great results, AND she has fabulous recipes.
6. The Gracious Pantry.  This woman was one of my first 'clean eating' blogs to follow.  I love her site, her recipes and just everything.  This is one of my 'go to' places for inspiration!
7. Holly at Becoming Mrs Allan because her blog is gorgeous and fun... and I enjoy reading it!
8. Danielle at Yeah, I said it because she's funny and her posts are my 'go to' when I need a smile.
9. Momma Jorje because... well, she's real.  And she's getting ready to hit the road with her family and I have to keep up with THAT development!
10. Eisy Morgan because she's an inspiration.  I'm following her biggest loser challenge and love all of her posts!
11. Paris, of course, because the girl is a very talented fashionista... and she's only TWELVE.
12. K.T. at Don'tcha wish you could blog like me because she is REALLY real... and a very interesting person.
13. Kat's Daily inspiration, because she's inspiring:)
14. Eating Bankok because I love hearing about different foods and this blog is awesomely full of interesting dishes.  A lot of them I've never heard of at all before, so its expanding my boundaries!
15. Live, Laugh & Love to Shop because I'm learning a lot about blogging from her.

And, finally -- 7 fun facts about yours truly!
Fun facts... This is always so hard.  What does "Fun" facts mean??  Oh!  I know
#1.  I tend to over-think things.  I think a LOT.  Random things more often than not, but I REALLY think things through.  I have been thinking hard on how I wanted to parent since I was NINE.  I still think about what I consider important and how I want to approach things in parenting because of how it will affect my kids 5-10 years from now.
#2.  Ironically, regardless of the award, I have no fashion sense anymore.  I shop in the Juniors dept still because the 'grown up' clothes just do NOT fit my personality.  I know, I'm almost 40, I should probably grow up some day, but you know, if you're not a professional who needs to wear funky suits and such, there apparently aren't any clothes that look... fun.
#3.  I have vastly different views on everything than pretty much anyone I know.  This sometimes sucks because it is hard for me to find friends that I really feel I connect with.
#4.  I want (and plan to) move to LA and help my two youngest daughters fulfill their dreams of being actresses. (See above parenting things... I won't 'fit in' in LA either, fwiw, but I don't think I'll stand out quite as much because apparently everyone there is odd.)
#5.  I am a passionate person.  Black or White, very little in between.  On anything.
#6.  If you really, really tick me off, I will probably tell my husband how I really feel, and tell you a watered down version.  Or I just won't speak to you at all again.  Ever.  I have no patience for that type of thing, but at least I have stopped feeling the need to make my point to people who don't want to listen.
#7.  I really, truly enjoy getting to know people online.  I am honest and real online and tend to assume that everyone else is too.  I'm drawn to people online who post their flaws and their good points.