blogging | Chrystina Noel

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blog boss: my 8 favorite blogs

Posted in blogging, tagged 8 favorite blogs, blog boss, blog boss favorite blogs, blog boss homework 2, blog favorites, blog roll, favorite blogs on March 18, 2013 | 5 Comments »

I’m currently taking the e-course Blog Boss taught by Holly Becker at decor8, Irene Hoofs from Bloesem, and Steffi Luxat from Ohhmhhh. Here was the course description that inspired me:

“Blog Boss is about HOW TO approach your blog like you are the CEO, the DEPUTY EDITOR, the BOSS. It’s not about how to set up a blog or boring tech stuff that you can learn from a book – this class will be taught by the pros… who will give you loads of insider advice on how blogging REALLY works.”

All of that said, I’m still working out the exact work-life balance of well, my life – so I’ve missed homework #2. So now I’m going going to blog about it instead. (It’s the second best option, right?)

The prompt was to write about my eight favorite blogs currently – 2 of which need to be ladies (or gentlemen) that I’ve met through this class. Let’s do this.

2013-03-18 blog boss - 8 favorite blogs

Joy the Baker blogs about so much more than food and recipes. She blogs about life and how food such a big part of it. And for somebody who is intimidated by cooking (me) she makes it very approachable with a lot of witty comments in between.

Erin from Living In Yellow has one of the most down-to-earth and real blog posts I’ve ever read. From streams of consciousness to blog advice to introducing inspiring people – she always has something interesting to say.

Elise from enJOY it is probably the biggest inspiration to me. She’s so creative and strong and positive that every time I leave her page I’m rejuvenated. She’s currently in the middle of a big move, a pregnancy, and her husband’s deployment.

Danielle from Sometimes Sweet does the best weekend links I read I get lost in there for hours. She blogs about life, her adorable son, and fun times along the way. She’s currently addicted to 90s music and can’t wait for free Rita’s.

Julia at Black Tag Diaries always has something exciting going on and blogs about it in such an interesting way. From Thankful Thursdays to outfit posts to arts and crafts to photography to adoption there’s always something fun to read next.

Jenni at Story of My Life writes some of the most honest posts I’ve ever read, which I ALWAYS appreciate. She’s got a great photography business on the side and her middle name is Noel.

Ramblings by Rach is one of my favorite new blogs to read – there’s such an honest day to day about it. I feel like I’m catching up with one of my “real life” friends while reading because it’s so conversational.

Jessica at fat vegan baby has an entire section devoted to tablescapes, which caught my attention immediately. This is my kind of girl. She’s also incredibly down to earth and creative. Plenty of inspiration over here.

I hope that you take the time to check out some of these lovely ladies – it’s worth it.

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bloglovin: how I keep all of the blogs I read organized

Posted in blogging, organization, tagged blog organization, bloglovin, how to read blogs, organizing blogs you read on January 12, 2013 | 2 Comments »

Over the past year and a half I have discovered that I absolutely LOVE blogging. I have also discovered that I absolutely LOVE reading blogs. There are currently 110 blogs that I keep on my list to keep up with. Crazy, right? So with 110 blogs on my list I have found that I need to keep my blog organization and methods for reading them as easy as possible. I have found that using Bloglovin is the best way for me to handle this.

You open your account, click on “Account”, “Following”, and then “Add Blog” and you can add as many blogs as you want to the list, and categorize them as you see fit. Here’s a look at my categories:

I have my list of favorites, which no matter how backlogged I get I will always read. I have a category for friends – who are people that I see in my day to day life that also happen to write blogs – and I always read those posts as well. blogs to try is the category for blogs that I come across that I think “yeah, this might be for me” so I throw them in there to check it out. I clean through that category every few months to get rid of the ones that didn’t click and move the ones that did to a different category. bbc philly 2012 is specifically the people that I met at Bloggy Boot Camp in Philadelphia last year. Then I broke down the other categories by type of blog – some of these categories have 3 blogs in them, and some of them have 20. The only other category that needs explaining is xxx not now. When I’ve been reading a blog for a while and I determine it’s not for me anymore, I put it in that category. I use this category when I don’t want to completely move on – maybe there’s one weekly post that I really enjoy.

So why does this work so well? Because Bloglovin gives you a preview of all of the posts so I can sort through them before I even read them.

So there are a bunch of categories that I can just browse through and read through the titles of the posts and look at the pictures and decide if I want to keep reading. If I feel like that content is not relevant to me I can just “mark as read” and it will take it out of the “All unread posts” category. The easiest categories for me to browse are cards, philadelphia, and xxx not right now. So that takes some time out of this process.

While I realize 110 blogs is a LOT, this setup works for me right now. When it becomes too much, I’ll change it up a little bit. How do you read your blogs?

Also, no this isn’t a sponsored post, I really just like Bloglovin.

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my top 10 favorite posts

Posted in blogging, introductions, ramblings, tagged chrystinanoel top posts on November 27, 2012 | 1 Comment »

The theme of this week seems to be revamping. I hope you’re all enjoying the design changes on the blog – I will admit that I’m not 100% on them, but I’m going to try them out for a little bit – all suggestions are welcome. One thing that I did while thinking about the direction for the blog was look back over what some of my favorite posts since the beginning of this blog have been. I’d definitely say these are worth checking out if you missed them the first time.

things I believe in
This is probably one of the most honest and open posts that I’ve written so far.

what do your refrigerator magnets say about you?
I was shocked to find out what mine say about me.

5 easy food ideas for hosting a brunch party
If I don’t say it enough, I love brunch.

free printable: basic types of salad
Learn more about my irrational fear of salad bar lines here.

when social media collides and blows your mind
The best story in this post involves Jeanine, Smores, Australia, and my dad. (yes, really)

I’d like you to meet the baton rouge chrous/my first stage makeup experience
I don’t think I’ve ever worn this much make up in my life. And I made a flow chart.

tiega’s house
I can’t say enough about how fortunate it is that I have this post. Within the past year both Tiega and Grampa passed away – and they sold the house. I currently have one of the snow globes sitting on my dresser thanks to Mrs. Aubrey’s mom. I still can’t believe they’re gone.

my current top four signature greeting card features
It’s strange how there are some things that make their way into almost every card that I make.

how to write a great thank you card
A really simple breakdown of what makes a good thank you card – with major props to my friend Erin.

how to host a wine and cheese party
I’m so glad I wrote this post. Because of it I might finally have my wine and cheese quantities correct. Wine and cheese parties are so expensive, so if you can avoid overbuying – good.

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