The Stylish Blogger Awards

The lovely Robin of Farewell, Stranger, recently honoured me with the Stylish Blogger Award! I can't tell you how it has inspired me. It's been a rough year (we've had many nasty colds), and I lost a bit of steam this past week... or has it been two weeks? Let's just say that May has not been a stellar posting month. But now, armed with some killer antibiotics and encouragement from Robin, I'm ready to put my best face forward again. Thanks for the award, Robin, and thank-you for your honesty and bravery in sharing your travels through motherhood! You are an inspiration!

According to tradition, having received the Stylish Blogger Award, I must share 7 things about myself with all of you and then award 10 fabulous new (to me) bloggers the Stylish Blogger Award.

Okay, all set? Got yourself a mug of tea or a cup of joe? Feet up, nice and relaxed? Here are 7 things you may not know about me:

1. I have freakishly accurate Name That Tune skills. Seriously. I can hear as little as one bar of an obscure song and tell you its name and artist. Music so pervades my brain matter that I remember lyrics and guitar riffs more easily than anything, including what I just ate for lunch. If I want to remember something, I just need to set it to music.

2. I dislike housecleaning intensely. In fact, I'm not a fan of domestic life in general. Occasionally I get the urge to cook something, but if I take a few deep, cleansing breaths it passes soon enough. I exaggerate slightly. I am told that I make an amazing assortment-of-stuff-we-had-in-the-fridge snack tray, and I'm pretty good with a blender. I really don't like to cook, but I do like to eat. I'm always on the lookout for easy and delicious meal ideas, so if you've got one, I want it! I'll share some of my favourites here too. I don't want to see anyone waste any more time than is necessary in the kitchen (unless they're having a party).

3. I would like to try martial arts, but I'm so uncoordinated I'm afraid I'd kick my own butt.

4. If I won the lottery, I'd be a professional student. I'd be totally lazy about it and skip lots of classes, but I'd still learn a bunch. I love to learn new things. Also, if I won the lottery, I'd travel the world! I'd learn a lot on the road. Right. Scratch the professional student career. Who needs an education when you have money? On second thought, scratch the world travelling thing too. If I won the lottery, I would eat out every day - all day. Of course, I could do that while I travel. Un-scratch the travelling thing. Boy, being a millionaire is a more complicated than I thought!

5. I like hiking, camping, a big roaring fire, and any other way that I can zen out (that doesn't involve meditating - every time I try to meditate I end up planning how I will redecorate the living room - it gets expensive). I love the outdoors, but as I get older I become more of a fairweather outdoor enthusiast. In the summer, I try to get out as much as I can. In the winter, I'd much rather watch this video of a crackling fire and eat marshmallows out of a bag than go outside.

6. I would like to learn how to play golf, without all the whining and swearing. I hear it can be done.

7. I'm a passionate person. I have a hard time NOT standing up for the little guy. It gets me into trouble sometimes. I'm trying to learn to pick my battles and to focus my energy on creating positive change in the world. Though I've always had an ability to see both sides of an argument, I'm still working on appreciating all of the ways of looking at a thing. I'm trying to find a balance between voicing an opinion and standing up when it is right to do so, and being open to seeing things in a new way.

And now to pass on the Stylish Blogger Award to 10 fabulous bloggers who I have recently come to know and love.

First a word about the award. If I was being videotaped (with my knowledge) while blogging, I would probably endeavour to be stylish in the nice shoes, love the hair sense of the word. But since no one can actually see me, I'm happily typing away in my 'comfy pants'.

So if it's not about our clothing or hairstyles, what does it mean to be a stylish blogger?

These very deserving bloggers - some of them writers or aspiring writers, some of them moms, some of them both writers and moms - have plenty of style. Being a stylish blogger, in my view, is about being bold and brave, and sometimes venturing where no blogger has gone before with beautiful results.

With this award I honour the way these ladies present themselves, their honesty, their creativity, their sense of humour and their sharing nature. Thanks to all of you for the laughs, the tears, the encouragement and the support!

1. The lovely and talented, Ashley Graham - She's caring and supportive of fellow writers and bloggers and a great Twitter friend!  Check out her top tweets of the week. Yes, she's already received numerous awards from her peers, but she's worthy of a few more.

2. Tonya of Letter for Lucas - Like me, Tonya uses her blog about life as the stay-at-home mother of a young boy as a means of therapy. I wonder how many times the words SAHM and therapy appear together in a sentence. Tonya, I hear you girl!

3. Rachel of Cool Bean Mommas - She's very funny and original, and her food posts make me salivate... almost enough to cook. Even though I have one child and not three like Rachel, I still relate to her Mommy Evolution post. I started this gig full of energy, armed with a camera, scrapbook and plenty of crafty ideas to stimulate my child's creativity, and now consider it a good day if my child has been fed and has matching socks.

4. Carri of Adventures in Mommyhood - She understands that being a good mom and a love of vodka can co-exist. Her blog is super stylin'. She's getting lots of follower love already, but there's a good reason for that. She's blunt and hilarious! Bottoms up, Carri!

5. Kim of Let Me Start by Saying... - She wrote one of the most tragically beautiful posts I've read in a long time (Exhale). I'm grateful for her honesty and her courage, and for giving me a benchmark to measure my own writing against.

6. Leighann of Multitasking Mumma - Her recent Vlog still has me chuckling. She's won this award before too, with good reason. She's another brutally honest blogger (I'm sensing a trend here), and the results are highly entertaining. Thanks for the laughs, Leighann.

7. "J" and "S" at Venti With the Girls - Their posts are thoughtful and funny. On Mondays they host a Monday Vent. Let it all out! Then come back at the end of the week for Bright Side Friday to express your gratitude for the good stuff.

8. Louise Wise of Wise Words - Louise supports her fellow authors by showcasing their works on her blog. She also supports other bloggers by featuring writing or book-related articles that have resonated with her. She's a friend to the self-published author and all lovers of books!

9. Elizabeth Ann West of EA West Writing - She provides a wealth of information to would be writers on her own journey to becoming a self-published author.

10. Nicole of My Idealife - Nicole is a new blogger like me, a mom like me, and I find her musings on motherhood highly amusing. Show her some comment love!