Featured Blogger Friday: ". . . For a Different Kind of Girl"

There are some blogs I read for the pretty things they feature and those that I like simply because they're funny or charming. And then there are those few that knock me sideways with the consistent perfection of the writing, which somehow manages to be hilarious, insightful, clever, and just the right amount of sentimental. Today's Feature Friday blogger, ". . . For a Different Kind of Girl" (aka, FADKOG), falls into that latter category for me.

And so, like the ridiculous fangirl I am, I begged FADKOG, a wife, mom, bookseller, and all-around cool chick living in the Great Midwest, for an interview. She is difficult to pigeonhole as a blogger (a compliment, to my mind) - as she notes below, she's not exactly a mommy blogger, but her tales about her family and her work life are just too funny and dear for you to be missing out on one second longer. Even when she ostensibly is writing about nothing, like with "Seinfeld", her nothing is infinitely better than everyone else's.

Plus, she knows her REAL "Beverly Hills 90210" (ahem) and John Hughes movies like no other, so she's de facto awesome in my book.

Without further fangirl blathering, here is FADKOG . . .

Why she started blogging: I started blogging in September 2006. Before I started writing my own blog, I traveled the world via other writers and their blogs, discovering just how freeing people find the Internet to be as a place to share their joys or their burdens with others who, I also discovered, were more often than not, willing to celebrate with them or offer their support by whatever means possible despite likely never having met the person who'd written the initial words. I had a small list of favorite blogs I liked to routinely visit, but because I had no blog of my own at the time, I never left comments. It seems strange to say this now, but I didn't feel like it was my place to impose somewhere if I didn't have a place to call my own as proof that I could then share with them.

Anyway, among that small list of favorite blogs was one in particular written by a gentleman who, unfortunately, no longer is blogging, but who had a talent for crafting words, and I would often visit his site many times a day to see if he'd updated or to re-read something he'd previously written. I had no clue about blogging or site tracking capabilities, so I didn't know he'd know I was there as often as I was, until one day I visited his blog and found an entry titled with the name of my town and a very short, very nice post asking me to reveal myself. I was stunned, a bit delighted, and from then, totally pulled! I left a comment, some gushing little fan letter of a comment, and we were soon bantering back and forth on his blog that way. It didn't take long for my new friend to ask if I had my own blog. I think it was his polite way of telling me I was giving him far too many words and that I should lessen the burden on him by sharing them with others!

One day, he essentially dropped the gauntlet on me and challenged me to start a blog that very day. I remember him telling me that I should have a post up and ready for him to read later that same afternoon. I panicked! I then wrote a very lengthy response detailing how that was impossible because I had nothing to say (tip - never be incredibly wordy when trying to tell someone you have nothing to say!). Then I caved, opened up Blogger, created an account, and started typing. Thirty minutes later, I'd posted my very first blog entry. I thought I'd be a 'one and done' blogger, able to tell my friend, "Look! See! I did it!" and then delete it, but I was already starting to feel like there was more I wanted to write.



Her Writing Background: Before I started blogging, I hadn't written anything longer than a grocery list in four years. I'm not sure if seven years of every week coming up with 10 news stories, features articles, columns, and editorials for a community newspaper burned me out completely, or I simply didn't feel like I had anything of interest to say anymore, but I just never felt the pull to write during that lull.

I have friends who are incredible writers and who make the art of telling a story seem effortless. However, I have a tendency to be my own worst enemy when it comes to trying my hand at creative writing. Some of my blog posts that have remained my favorites have been written when I was able to just sit down with my laptop, turn off my inner critic, and just spill. (Pretty Note: So her best blogging seems like every single one of her posts to me. Truly. Amazing to see that those I consider the best at this still struggle with this too.)

I wish I was always able to write that way, and in this last month, I've really been attempting to do so by branching out and trying my hand at writing fiction. A group of fellow blog authors whose writing I enjoy started a blog called Polite Fictions, then invited a small group of their favorite writers to participate. I was terrified - and secretly delighted - when I opened my email one afternoon to discover I was included in the group asked to participate. The point of Polite Fictions, other than putting me into fits of complete panic when it's my turn to contribute, thus forcing one of the fantastic leaders of the group to talk me down from the ledge through a series of angst-ridden emails I send him, is for the various authors to develop a narrative through four paragraph entries.

The site's been active for a month now, and we're developing an intriguing tale we'd love for people to read. Every new entry is like a grown up version of a Choose Your Own Adventure book (Pretty Note: LOVE those books, yes, even to this day) and as a writer, it's been fun to pick up a nugget of the story from a previous entry and create a new twist for the protagonists, and then come back a couple days later to discover where the next author has taken us. I still don't feel like I belong among the group, and I still sweat out the details too much, but I love that participating in Polite Fictions MAKES me try my hand at something I'm not necessarily comfortable with.

Her Blogging Inspiration: I've been inspired to write posts by what's going on around me, little snippets of conversation I pick up, the trash and treasures my husband has come home with, and even the way my children look at me. My pockets are often filled with little post-it notes with words I've scribbled on them with ideas I'd like to write about.

I'd like to say I'm forever inspired by greatness, but then I'd be left unable to explain why I wrote a post one day after opening my pantry and discovering five bottles of Thousand Island salad dressing inside and writing a short post about my addiction to it and having that be the post that, at the time, garnered me the most comments I'd ever had! (Pretty Note: Here's the thing - you won't believe how well she writes about the Thousand Island dressing.)

About Tool Man, Her Dreamy-Sounding Husband, and Newlywed Advice: Oh, my Tool Man IS fairly dreamy! In a few weeks, we'll have been married for 15 years, and though it may sound cliche, I can honestly say that it seems unfathomable to me that I've been next to this man for that long!

I've said this before on my own blog, but I'll say it here, too. Every night, we fall asleep holding hands. Every night. This despite the way he can be snoring within seconds of his head hitting the pillow and how I like to stay up late with the bedside lamp burning in his face so I can read whatever book it is I'm enjoying that I know I'll never be able to discus with him because he's not a reader. We don't wake up in the morning still clasping hands, but that one little gesture has been the way we connect with each other, acknowledge forgiveness when we've had to, and remember why we're here in the first place, so my marriage tip for newlywed readers is to find that gesture that lets your spouse know you're in this for the duration. It doesn't have to be holding hands while you drift off to sleep. It can be a note or a telephone call, but just something that reminds you - and them - why you wanted to spend your life with them.

The Inspiration Behind Her Blog Title: When I was challenged to start my own blog, I had no idea what to call it. I think I stewed over a name longer than I did my first posts!

I have been a longtime fan of INXS. KICK was essentially the soundtrack of my senior year of college, and I would have sold my soul to worship at the feet of Michael Hutchence. (Pretty Note: I'm legitimately sorry for you Gen Ys & younger, because you didn't know the magnificence that was Michael Hutchence in the INXS heyday, may he rest in peace) There was a time when I swore I'd never marry a man who wouldn't allow me to have Never Tear Us Apart played during the ceremony. When I started writing, I didn't know where I was going to fit in, or even what I was going to write about after my initial post. That made me think of the INXS song To Look At You. The lyric reads "What is the name to call for a different kind of girl who knows the feelings, but never the words." I've always loved that line for so many reasons, and when I recalled that, it seemed like the perfect blog title for me.

I should note that my Tool Man had never heard of INXS before he met me, and while I'm sure he'd have let me have Never Tear Us Apart played during the ceremony, we instead opted to have my dear college friend butcher a version of "Have I Told You Lately?" in a feeble attempt to copy Rod Stewart's unplugged rendition of it. I'm still haunted by the memory! Perhaps the reason Tool Man still holds my hand every night as he drifts off to sleep is to calm me from the nightmares!


About Her Two Sons: I love my children with a capacity I never thought possible. I think every mother can probably say that. I don't think I have the market cornered on that sentiment, but I always am amazed when sometimes just watching them while they do their homework or play with their friends (or, better yet, play together) can make me teary-eyed. I've taken a lot of things for granted, but I'll never take being their mother for granted. My oldest son is 12, and is compassionate and honest and wants to be sure that everyone is having a good time. He's an incredible athlete, which is shocking since he's the child of two bench warmers, and watching him come alive and take charge on a basketball court is awesome. I have been that mom who is still standing and cheering while everyone else has sat down, but every time my son does something he's proud of while playing, he'll look up in the bleachers for his Dad and me and point to us, and when he does, it's like my heart grows far bigger than is possibly safe!

My youngest son is 7, and is charming and delightful and a natural born comedian. He chooses a new name to answer to on a weekly basis, reads to me in an English accent, and can whip out his math homework like it's a complete no-brainer, which, again, is pretty amazing considering his mother is a completely without any math knowledge. He'll be my accountant by fourth grade, I'm sure. Even though he's close to outgrowing this, there are many nights he'll come find me and sit down as close as he possibly can, then rest his head on my arm. I've kept him up past his bedtime some evenings just to bask in that time with him. I love running errands with just him because he'll sit in the back and chatter away about anything under the son and ply me with fascinating facts or lame jokes, and because he's so fond of speaking in that English accent I mentioned, it makes the time doing something mundane seem like a cultural affair! Plus, I know more about spiders than I ever thought I'd want to know!

Those are my favorite things. It's hard to think of a challenging thing about motherhood because I've been given two incredibly laid back kids. They make this job easy, and I knock on wood just typing that! I think the most challenging thing may be the nights when Tool Man is out of town for work and the single parent mode shifts in. My kids are self-sufficient so that helps, but it's running one of them here and the other one there, making dinner while keeping homework help straight, fielding phone call after phone call from girls wanting to talk to both of them (WHA?!), and doing everything else that needs to take place around the house at the same time that makes parenting a challenge. I only do it about three nights a week, so I know I'm lucky, but I've never quite gotten the perfect handle on this routine.

The Books We Should Be Reading (Pretty Note: FADKOG & I both love reading and have worked in/ served time in bookstores): I recently finished The Death of Bunny Munro by Nick Cave (Pretty Note: Yes, that Nick Cave, the excellent musician) and, while it's by no means a feel good story, it is a very beautiful, very lyrically written story of a man so wrapped up in his own various addictions that he's unable to see how much the son he must now care for in light of his wife's death loves him even as he believes he's teaching him the way of the world.

My favorite book of all time is Cormac McCarthy's The Road, another 'feel good' story about a father and son! This time it's a father and son who journey a post-apocalyptic America, but unlike during the journey Bunny Munro takes with his son, Bunny Jr., in the previously mentioned book, you know the plight of the unnamed father and son in The Road is fueled by mutual hope and love and sacrifice. I loved this book from the moment I started reading it and still can't stop thinking about it years after reading it. Reading it made me want to dive into other Cormac McCarthy books, and I've quite enjoyed many of them, including No Country For Old Men and Blood Meridian. McCarthy's writing style isn't for everyone, but it's worth a try to bask in how he crafts a story.

What She Wants a New Reader to Know Before Clicking Over to Her Blog: That I'm glad they've stopped by, and that I hope after reading a post or two, they'll come back and hopefully leave a comment so I know they were there! I love hearing other people's take on something I've written. Also, it's not a controversial blog. There are others who can take up a cause so much better than I can. It's also not a straight up 'mommy blog,' either. It's kind of a "whatever struck me that day so I wrote about it" blog. They should also know that I occasionally like to drop the Jonas Brothers or 90210 (mostly old school BH Niner, even though, heaven help me, I am STILL watching the new series) into my posts because I have something of an unholy love for both, and that I can be wordy (which may no longer be a secret based on the length of the responses I gave here!). Mostly, I would like them to know what I originally said - I'm glad they visited, I hope they enjoyed their time there enough to hopefully come back, and I hope to see them again. And that, yes, I actucally DID write a post about my addiction to Thousand Island salad dressing!

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FADKOG, thank you for indulging my fangirl-ism and playing along today. Readers, for the two of you who aren't already indulging in her blog, please do so immediately here. You can (read: should) also follow her Tweets here.

Featured Blogger Friday: "The Shabby Princess"

(Pretty Note: That hair! That necklace! Trying to stay focused and type here . . .)

You know how each group of close friends has the nice one? Of course, all of my besties share fabulous qualities, but generally speaking, there's the sweet one who glues us together, the mensch, the International Woman of Mystery, and the one who brings the champagne (ahem).

Today's featured blogger, the Shabby Princess, is the sweet one of my Invisible Internet Friends, and in fact is one of the first blogs I ever read. In fact, so kind and self-effacing is she that I hit her up to do this profile, because I think all of you need to be start reading her daily goodness right this very minute.

SP, a fellow California girl gone Texan, chronicles her life in Dallas with a keen eye for personal detail. Oh, and she's funny - very funny, so much so that I forgive her that strange running habit she & a number of you seem to have. The Fates have eluded our meeting for a Sprinkles cupcake to this point, but I'm hoping I'll meet SP on my next Dallas adventure.

Without further ado, the Shabby Princess . . .

Why she started blogging & her dream of being an author: Yes, my foray into blogging is directly related to my dreams of being an author. I started blogging because I was back at work after a several month hiatus while dealing with some family drama, and during my time away I wrote every day and would e-mail my friends little updates on my book, or little other things going on in my life. Things may not be as comical as they were then (which you can read about once I finish the dang book!), but, I still wanted to find a way to write often and share my silly life stories with friends (and had no idea how many Invisible Friends I would make along the way!).

About that novel she's working on: Yes, I am still working on it—which admittedly, is taking forever. I really need to refocus on get moving on it. It’s crazy how working a full time job, training for a marathon, being a wife and friend just kind of sucks the energy to work on my book right out of me. And I realize that everyone on this planet is crazed and overworked, which is why I’m utterly amazed by actual authors.

Honestly though, I am a bit scared to complete it—I have these schoolgirl fantasies about it being successful and it’s also very personal. But! But! I will finish. And it will be fabulous (naturally), and, of course it will be made into a movie. Obviously. And yes, these are my schoolgirl fantasies.

(Pretty Note: The excerpt she posted on her site a few months back was fantastic; I'm looking forward to saying I knew SP back when, right before she became a famous author . . . )

Her blogging inspirations: I find Jennslyvania to be absolutely hilarious—I want to be her when I grow up (not kidding). I strive to have just a fraction of her wit, alas, I fall short.

[Pretty Note: SP wrote something nice about me here, but in a rare show of pseudo-modesty, I'm editing it out - thank you, SP!]

I love A Duck in Her Pond—she is fabulous writing inspiration (and a dang whirlwind, I might add!). (Pretty Note: another one of my favorites & a former FFB'er!)

I love the colors and joy that is found in Nie Nie Dialogues and love her ability to add charm and love to daily events and that even through such adversity (she and her husband were in a terrible plane crash a year ago) she maintains her love and joy—which to me, is inspiring! Plus, she always dresses so gosh darn cute.

What she misses most & least about our glorious home state: Oh, California, I miss it so much. Alright, cheap answer? In-N-Out. There is just nothing like a good In-N-Out burger and these hot, fresh fries… I’m drooling. Real honest deep and mushy answer? My family, my friends, the beach (!), and the fabulous boutiques and small restaurants that dot the state. And goodness me, lately I have really been missing seafood! My dad lived two miles from the beach (yes, I brag) and there is honestly nothing like fresh seafood. And bread bowls of chowder on a foggy beach day. Ohh, I’m getting misty eyed.

What don’t I miss? I don’t miss the weekends—we lived in a very touristy area, so the weekends were always a beating because our quaint little beach village got turned into a huge city overnight. And I don’t miss the cost. I hear sales tax has gone up to pass what it is here—9…%?! Or something like that. Yikes.

What she likes most & least about Texas: I love the people. I love the sense of community. Everyone seems to know everyone and everyone looks out for one another. I love the hot summers and the very cold winters—we got snow last year! And the shopping. Gotta love the shopping. And fireflies in the summer—honestly, that might be my greatest joy once the hot weather rolls around.

What I don’t like is how commercial it all is—well, not all, but, hi, I live in Dallas. It’s a very strange little world with the big houses and the fancy cars and the Neimans. I know this may sound weird coming from a California girl, but, honestly, in California, things are just much more relaxed and laid back—even the big houses and fancy cars! It was and still is a bit overwhelming.

More about that darling husband of hers & how they met:

(Pretty Note: Seriously, how cute are they? And can I have some of SP's always fun accessories?)

We met at work, while I was at home working during the summer after my first year of college. I had just gone through a heinous breakup and had basically sworn off all men—unless of course Johnny Depp came calling (he didn’t).

My best friend (who I worked with) knew that my now husband was also newly single and suggested we “hang out” at some point—her exact words were “I’m not saying you need to marry the guy, but, you need to get out of the house”—apparently, watching Chocolat and Under the Tuscan Sun, laying by the pool and sleeping were not exciting things in her mind (she’s wrong). Did I mention that we hated each other? I thought he was an arrogant a$* and he thought I was a sassy little brat. But, being as we were both single and apparently, not happy, we gave each other a second chance.

After a few weeks of him stopping by our office to chat with her (lies!) she got the fabulous idea to leave my phone number on his car. After hours of my screaming at her like a child (and embarrassed child, I might add) I finally let it go, figuring that if he called, great, if not, I still had Captain Jack. He called. That night. We went to dinner. We got home at 2 AM. We were engaged two months later. And had a fabulous summer wedding nine months after that. It has later come out that my best friend and his mother played a role in this whole thing—his mother encouraging him to stop by to visit my BFF, and her dropping hints while I was out of the office. Those sneaky match makers….

Where she wants to be in five years, personally & professionally: Gosh, five years—for a millisecond that seems so far off, but, it’s not really! Yikes! OK: dream scenario: on a book tour with several little ones in tow, splitting my time between a fabulous beach house and a mountain retreat, complete with huskies (oh there’s my love of all things four legged) and a dog sled…. But, um, reality check, please?

In five years I hope to be a good place with “me”—hopefully with several marathons under my belt (at least two since that’s how many I plan on running in the next seven months) and a kiddo or two under my arm. Professionally, I hope to at least have some manuscripts in the works (but honestly, one published book would be amazing). In terms of blogging, I hope I still have wonderful readers and that I will have been able to meet many other bloggers—I’ve been blessed to make so many fabulous online friends and many have become real life friends—it’s so fun! I hope that I can still make people laugh—and that I still have things to laugh at (although I don’t see that changing anytime soon—I managed to walk into the doorframe of my bosses office five minutes ago—seriously, how am I alive?)!

Geographically? Gosh! I looove Texas and I always knew I’d live in the South—my heart has always been set on Georgia, but, the husband wouldn’t go for it. We debate packing up and moving to Colorado (we both adore it), or living by a lake in the Hill Country (doesn’t everyone?). But, time will tell. I’m a pretty big fan of our current home, and have visions of being forcefully dragged out of there if we ever had to move. Man, I’m pretty demanding five years out, aren’t I?

What she wants a new reader to know before clicking over to her blog: Ohmygosh, please know that I don’t take myself too seriously. I spout about royalty (mainly because I was pretty much born in the wrong country at the wrong time—and I will prove that my backwoods Kentucky bootleggin’ ancestors had royal roots, I will!), and being a ‘princess in training’, but really, I’m a simple hippy dippy trippy (as Stacey London would say) beach bum at heart.

I want to make people laugh—even at my expense. I rarely get into overly deep political type topics, not because I don’t care, but, because, I want people to come to my blog and get a giggle—there are plenty of other academic blogs out there—mine just isn’t one of them. And I don’t try to be—that’s not what you’ll find at The Shabby Princess. If you like shoes, chocolate, men with accents, a good shopping trip (at Target or otherwise) and good TV, we’ll get along just fine!

(Pretty Note: It's like I wrote this myself - see why she's one of my favorite Invisible Internet Friends?)

Thank you so much, SP!

Readers, you've heard the Princess' orders - please speed over to her blog immediately here and follow her Twitter feed here.

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Darlings! So you want to be one of my Feature Friday bloggers? Please review my deeply meaningful guidelines here & drop me a comment, including your email address. Please bear with me if it takes me a while to get back to you; my ability to procrastinate should not be underrated. Thank you for your interest!

Featured Blogger Friday: "Inner Workings of a Real-Life Barbie Doll"

I admit it. The first time I visited New York City, as a law student high on "Sex & the City" fantasies, I was overwhelmed. The second time, I developed a serious crush on the city, and it's one that has only grown when I've been fortunate enough to visit since.

Enter Shari, aka "Dollface" and her Carrie Bradshaw-esque take on the city, "Inner Workings of a Real Life Barbie Doll". A corporate event planner by day, Shari gives us a fun-filled insider's take on the glam Manhattan life, from her shopping finds to moving into a (too small) apartment with her boyfriend, Jared, and their handsome Pug, Thunder.

Cue the "New York, New York" to play in the background, and let's go . . .

Why she started blogging: Just one day last winter I was riding the subway with a bunch of typical NY fashionistas. I had the urge to write. I started up my own blog and wrote about winter fashion trends.

I wasn't too aware of the whole blogger scene so for about a month I just wrote with no followers except my best friend, Marisa, and Jared. NYC HIT (Pretty Note: another fab Feature Friday Blogger) was one of the first people to follow my blog and "spread the word". I was very grateful. I cannot begin to express how happy it is that I started with zero followers and are now reaching 200 of them.

The story behind her blog title: My whole life I have been treated as a Barbie doll. My mother used to enroll me in beauty pageants, theater productions and I became a debutante in the year 2000. Past boyfriends even would call me "dollface" or "babydoll" and one even referred to me as his "porcelain doll". I think it is an alias that has sort of stuck with me over the years. The inner workings are more as an insider view to me, knowing that there is much more than my exterior.

Her blog inspiration: Jared & Thunder would be too obvious. Just about anything. I usually start pondering blog topics on my way to work riding the subway. There is such an eclectic group of people in Manhattan that it gives me oodles of topics to discuss when I sit down to type. My everyday life comes into play a lot. I talk about TV shows, songs, movies, art work, work situations, friends and family sometimes. Anything that is in my head is on the screen. I am very honest.

Does the darling boyfriend read her blog? Of course! He has commented a few times on certain posts. He is the first one to call me after I hit submit and let me know there wasn’t enough mention of how much I love him. Haha. He is a bit "blog-narcissistic" if you ask me :) I plan on having him do a guest post at some point. He is more than thrilled to support me and follow along. "Whatever makes you happy" is something he strongly believes in.

(Pretty Note: Raise your hand if you now want to ask her, "How the heck do you get your man that interested in your blog?" Just me?)

Tell us non-natives something we don't know about New York: Sex and the City and other NY shows have always made me want to live in Manhattan. It's this feeling you get when you walk out of your over-priced apartment that everything is amazing. The people are strange yet familiar, the food is delicious yet always changing, and the experiences you have are priceless. I can sit for hours on my couch starting out of my window at night at the Manhattan skyline and just breathe. NYC is big to others but home to me.

The last 3 albums she downloaded: I just downloaded from I-tunes the whole album of Colbie Caillat, The Fray and Britney Spears. I like anything from hip-hop to country, from emo to punk, and from classic rock to top 40's. Lately I have had on repeat "Lucky in Love" by Jason Mraz featuring Colbie. It reminds me of Jared and me.

What she wants a new reader to know before clicking over to her blog: Be prepared to be engaging in superficial chatter one day and deep, introspective talk another. This is not a hate blog, it is purely fun-loving and hopefully inspirational. Besides all of that, I am your friend, your fellow bloggie, I am an ear to listen. What you "see" is what you get.

Why life as a Smug Pug Owner is the best: (Pretty Note: no self-interest in how I phrased that question at all . . .) I never met another Pug before I met Thunder. In fact, I didn’t love him on sight. I didn’t want to be "that" girl that loved the dog because the man loved him. Thunder grew on me and now I can't picture my life without him. That smushy face and curly tail make me smile on a daily basis. Even when he gets into trouble, constantly, I still love him. When I am upset he licks the back of my heels. When I walk in the door he jumps up and kisses me. He is always photogenic and always making our lives complete.

We would get a second one if our building allowed it. But in the future we hope to have a baby girl Pug and name her Olivia. (Pretty Note: I actually want one named Olive - great minds!)

Thank you, Dollface! Darlings, please hustle your cute little tushies over to "Inner Workings of a Real Life Barbie Doll" here.

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My flock, if you would like nothing better than to be a Feature Friday blogger - it's kind of like the Oscars, minus the swag bags, couture, and prestige - please review my guidelines here and leave me a comment including your email address. Please bear with me if it takes me a while to get back to you. Thanks for reading & your interest!

Feature Friday Double-Double - My Feature at "Glamour Girl"

Hello from the gorgeous, if rain sodden, hills of North Carolina!

I'm running off to Cocktail Hour - yes, it comes in capital letters in my world - but before I do, please (1) check out my Feature Friday blogger, Glamour Girl, if you haven't already below here; and . . . drumroll . . . (2) see her interview of me over at her fabulous site here!

My martini is calling me (dirty, Grey Goose, 3 olives) - have a Pretty weekend!

Featured Blogger Friday: "Glamour Girl"

Dulcet darlings, I'm thrilled to introduce a shiny new blogger to you today, Glamour Girl! Ms. Glamour and I met in the comments section here, and I quickly began to follow her vivacious blog (Can a blog be vivacious? I waive my magic wand & make it so).

What I like best about Ms. Glamour is that she speaks to an area of blogging and writing I've been searching for - that space many of us occupy between our singleton past and our card-carrying, minivan-driving mom future. She can also pull off retro glamour in one post - just wait until you see her wedding photo below - and proclaim her love of Guns n' Roses in the next one. Given that I respectively qualify for & adore all of the above, I naturally think she's genius, but there is something for all of us in her writing.

Let's get to it . . .

Why She Started Blogging: Well, I’m too pretty to do math, so writing seemed the natural choice. No, for real, I started writing before I could even read. I would ask my mom how to spell words so I could write the stories that were in my head. My early work consists of stories about cats and sheep. Really great stuff!

I had been thinking about writing a blog for a long time, but just wasn’t sure how I wanted to go about it. I got married this past April and as I was planning I kept using “Hollywood Glamour” to describe the look and feel I wanted for the wedding. This gave me the idea for Glamour Girl

Some of the first blogs I read were those of like-minded people who I thought would “get” me and appreciate the place I am in my life now. You were one of my first blogger friends because I enjoyed your sense of style, wit, sarcasm, blondeness and prettiness of course! (Pretty Note: Pinky swear, I don't put the FFBs up to this sort of flattery. Yes, really.)

Her unique voice somewhere in between "20s singleton" and suburban mommy, which is one of my favorite features of her blog: This was one of the reasons for starting my blog in the first place. I kept thinking, “There’s got to be more people out there like me!” I spend one weekend on the soccer field and at kiddy birthday parties and the next out on a boat sipping cocktails with my friends. It’s almost like a dual personality.

Even though I have a step-daughter, you would be amazed at how many “Mommy” types still shun me just because I didn’t pop her out of my own body. And my single friends always assume I’m busy with Mommy duties. There’s a definite stereotype to both of these groups, leaving someone like me floundering somewhere in the middle.

(Pretty Note: I defy one of those Mommy Mafioso types to look at this darling girl and be snooty to anyone.)

Where she finds blog inspiration: I have two things going for me:

a. Crazy stuff happens to me all the time. Or maybe I just put myself in crazy situations, who knows?
b. I have a great imagination. No matter what is going on around me, I always have an alternate dialogue or scenario going on in my head. You’ll often see this reflected in my blog. I’ll go off into a dream sequence quite often. I doubt I would ever get through the work day without my brain working this way!

Where on Earth she finds time between marriage, work, and a kid to blog: I sneak in time between pretending to work during the day at my full time job to hearing Hottie Husband yell, “Are you blogging again?” in the evenings.

Cryst*al Me*th also works wonders. Kidding!!! Really, I just take it one day at a time. I try to write every day, but it doesn’t always happen.

Her non-bloggy hobbies: I go through phases, but I always enjoy shopping, painting, traveling, taking my cat for walks (Pretty Note: I like how she sneaks the cat walking in here as if it's a ho-hum, everyday thing us mere mortals can pull off) and dancing (either out with friends or just in my own kitchen).

Right now HH, the little Chica and I have been playing a lot of Rock Band on Xbox. Our band name is My Midget (so politically incorrect, I know!) HH plays a mean guitar, Chica rocks the mic and I wail on the drums. (Pretty Note: I too rock the Rock Band drums) Great stress release! And, it’s always entertaining to see a 5-year-old rock out to Rage Against the Machine. She loves it!

3 songs she recently downloaded: I love music and I listen to a little bit of everything. I always have music on my blog to reflect the mood I’m in that week.

Right now I’ve been in a big classic rock phase and Chica loves The Rolling Stones, so I recently downloaded one of our favorite Stones songs, Sympathy for the Devil. I’m also always looking for good workout songs so Cobra Starship’s Good Girls Go Bad and Sean Kingston’s Fire Burning have given me my fix recently.

Some personal & professional goals for the next 5 years: I’m one of those annoying people who have a new life goal every week, so who knows? I always have a new “great idea” that I want to pursue. HH and I are both very creative people and we would eventually like to run our own business. We would also like to have more kids, after all, how else will I truly be accepted into the Mommy Club and flaunt my superiority over my single friends once and for all? (Pretty Note: This line thaws my icy, Smug Married heart to the core.)

(Pretty Note: The first dance accessories are perfection here - I'll take the child and the feathery veil, please.)

What a new reader should know before clicking over to her blog: Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful. No, really, just don’t take me seriously. Most of my ideas are whack and I don’t really follow the crowd or agree with popular opinion. I was a drama major in college and that explains a lot. But, the good thing is that you will always get 100% authentic me. I never put on a façade or pretend to be someone I’m not.

Thank you for playing, Miss Glamour! My darlings, please run immediately over to Glamour Girl's blog here or her Twitter feed here, lest I aim my Icy Glare in your direction . . .

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There are the Oscars, there are the Nobel Prizes, and then of course there is Featured Blogger Friday. I'm of no help with the first two or really much of anything, but if it's internet PR you're after & you'd like to be a featured blogger, please leave me a comment here. Thank you for reading!

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Watch this space for the related Featured Blogger Friday twist, to be updated soon . . .

Goin to Carolina . . .

(Credit: Wikipedia Commons)

. . . in my mind and on a jetplane. Back with more travel tales (read: MORE vacation photos from a complete stranger!!!) early next week.

Featured Blogger Friday will continue in my absence, so Pretty please check back in tomorrow. You won't want to miss this one, and as if she weren't exciting enough, there's a twist this time. Stay tuned . . .

Featured Blogger Friday: "NYC Housewife-in-Training"

Darlings, I couldn't be happier to bring you today's featured blogger, the ever elegant and witty NYC Housewife-in-Training. She & I first "met" in the comments section here at the Pretty, and quickly became Invisble Internet Friends. I so enjoy her daily musings about her "husby" and admire her La Martha-style examples of housewife-in-training domesticity, all pulled off with the perfect balance of New York style, more than a little sarcasm, and warmth. Reading her blog feels like talking to one of your good friends.

If only the Trophy Wife Wagon were just a smidge speedier, I'd be setting off for Manhattan right now to buy her a champagne drink or ten. But before I start sounding even more like a blog stalker (albeit an exceedingly Pretty one), allow me to distract you with a little more info about NYC HIT:

Why she started blogging: I’m an all or nothing kind of girl as if you didn’t know, so when I was talking to AER at a friend’s wedding and she was telling me all about her blog, and I thought, I could do that. I promise it had nothing to do with my competitive spirit and everything to do with the fact that I just stumbled upon this super cool secret world that I knew nothing about. So the following week, I talked to Husby (who cheered me on) and signed up.

Problem was I had never read a blog before.

I realized all too soon that I would need to do more than just write if I wanted to really be apart of blogland, so I began reading other blogs. I was addicted. A few of my early favs? Mrs. Newlywed, you (naturally) (Pretty Note: Flattery - and good jewelry - will get you everywhere with me), Dollface and Lindsey.

Her Dream of Writing a Children's Book: My ultimate champion, Husby, thought of the idea. We were sitting in bed one day (as most of our conversations begin) when he said that I should write a children’s book. That night, Max and the Misadventures of Cuddlebear was born.

My niece is my inspiration. By the age of 3, she’s traveled more places than I can ever dream of going. And that is the premise behind my storyline.

On a serious note, I’m scared to death of starting my children’s book. I have all these plots and ideas in my head for the books, but sitting down and actually writing them is quite daunting. Writing for kids is so different than writing for adults. Everything is so literal. It makes me feel inadequate. I'm not prepared to write it yet.

So for now, Max remains in my dreams, but maybe one day soon he’ll venture out to meet you all…

Her Daily Blog Inspiration . . .

Husby manages to provide me with more than enough blogging material on a daily basis.

Her day job: Last October, I had to stop working. The stress of work was literally wrecking havoc on my body, and Husby and I decided that it would be best for me to take a break. So, for now my day job is blogging, but we are hoping that soon it will be parenting. But yes, before I worked in the fabulous over-hyped world of PR and Marketing. For spirits, nonetheless. And, no, I did not get free booze. Unless I did things like eat a scorpion or jump a fence with my boss. No wonder I had problems with stress. They should have given me booze to tame my nerves.

Her hobbies outside of blogging: Does Twitter count? I love to cook/bake; photograph everything; reading is my ultimate guilty pleasure; I’m a wino at heart; traveling and weekend adventures rock; and overall I spend as much time as I can with my family and friends. (Pretty Note: Amen!)

Some goals for the next five years: Finally get the nerve to start Max’s Misadventures. He and Cuddlebear are getting pretty anxious up there doing nothing.

Start a family. That pretty much consumes most of our thoughts lately.

About this mysterious, "we're buying a house and possibly moving to the country" stuff: Yes, we are moving. It may or may not be to the country... More details to come this fall. I promise. Stay tuned!

What she would want a new reader to know before clicking over to her blog: Take everything I say with a grain of salt. Sometimes I’m serious, sometimes I’m sarcastic, but mostly I’m just making fun of with Husby.

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Thank you so much, my Invisible Internet Friend! Please run immediately over to NYC HIT's blog here or her equally wonderful Twitter feed here!

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If any of you would like the wildly prestigious honor of being a Feature Friday Blogger, please read my scintillating guidelines here and leave me a comment, including your email address. Please forgive me if it takes me a while to get back to you; as longtime readers know, I'm terribly lazy and disorganized busy and important. Thanks for your interest!

Featured Blogger Friday: "A Southern Accent"

Lovelies, I'm happy to introduce to you one of my favorite new reads, the adorable Wendy of "A Southern Accent"!

A favorite on my "I'm secretly trying to learn how to be properly Southern, even though I know Texas isn't in the South and I don't drink sweet tea" blogroll, what I enjoy most about "A Southern Accent" is the variety. One day she'll hilariously address Bubbies (my "Real Housewives of NJ" emphasis added) in the office, the next one of her amazing DIY projects that leave me yearning to be crafty (in the non-diabolical sense).

Aside from her trademark humor, a common theme in her posts is the wonderful photography, often featuring her teeth-achingly darling son. It isn't a wonder she has a fab Etsy shop set up featuring custom artwork - this is one creative lady! You design and photography buffs will particularly appreciate her work.

Please welcome Wendy:

Why she started blogging: I started blogging last year because I was dealing with some rough personal things (which I addressed on my blog in the earlier days) and I wanted a place to reach out to others, express my creativity and record my thoughts. I also started it as a sort of tribute to my son, recording things that we do together and funny things that he does, so I'll have them to look back on. I kept a journal through different times in my life and writing has always been a way for me to get my feelings and thoughts in some sort of order.

I think the first blog I started reading was Puttin on the Grits. Her stories made me laugh and she gave me some good tips about how to get started in the blog world. (Pretty Note: You all should be following her Twitter feed too; hi-larious). I also love Nie Nie, Dooce and c Jane. They have this amazing ability to make everyday occurrences seem magical.

Where she finds blogging inspiration: I find blogging inspiration in just about everything. Since my blog is about all kinds of things, including family, work, fashion, shopping, etc., I always have things to write about.

How she manages to have a full-time paid job, and be a mom, AND blog: I can't stand to sit still or be bored. I can't even watch TV without doing something else at the same time - whether it's cleaning, cooking, blogging, freelance design or reading magazines. When my head finally hits the pillow at night, I have a million thoughts running through my mind. Now, I write my blog posts in my head while I'm drifting off to sleep. I plan what I'm going to say, the picture I'm going to use, so when I actually post, it takes very little time to create.

Some of her hobbies outside of blogging: I'm a mom first and foremost, so I love doing anything my little guy likes to do. I also love to paint, read, shop, decorate, cook and love the beach. Fortunately my in-laws live there, so we get to visit quite a bit. I've recently added a consistent exercise routine to my days, along with eating better and taking care of myself. Then there's UNC athletics, which I love as well. I'm pretty much up for anything.

Her goals for the next 5 years, both personally and professionally: My goal is to get in the best shape of my life, to take better care of myself. I want to be one of those women in their late 30s (that I currently hate because they have a six pack and no cellulite) that say "I've never been this fit." (Pretty Note: Ha! Standing & clapping.)

I also want to move up in my current company. I love my job and just want to keep doing and keep growing.

What she wants new readers to know before clicking over to her blog: Hmmm...I guess not to take my blog too seriously. I talk about everything from boobs to beach trips on my site and just want it to be fun. I know there's some negativity in the blog community, and I just want my readers to know my blog is just about enjoying life.

Please sprint immediately over to "A Southern Accent" and say hello here!

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If you are just fiending to be one of my Feature Friday bloggers - and who isn't??? - please review my guidelines here and leave me a comment, including your email address. Please bear with me if it takes me a bit to get in touch with you and/or feature you. Thanks!