Five Fab Blogs

Amy tagged me to share my daily blog reads. Because most blogs don't load in mainland China, I use Google Reader to view and track them all. Its a great way to manage my favorites and avoid major time suckage. There are so many inspiring blogs out there that I really have to restrain myself!

UNE) For Fashion it begins and ends with The Sartorialist. He is not a great writer or dazzling wit, (even I notice the typos and spelling errors on his blog) but his photography is impeccable. Composition, color, and light underpin everything he shoots. You won't see many plus size people and many of his subjects are fashion insiders; editors, designers, buyers. They look the part; thin, rich and dripping in designer duds. Nevertheless, his shots reflect what real people are wearing to live actual lives, instead of models tarted up to look like space creatures in the pages of Vogue.

Additionally, The Sartorialist is far and away the best and most inspiring showcase for Men's Fashion I've ever seen. Design blog land can be a very girly place, so it is refreshing to see menswear covered with such detail. It is so sexy to see men wearing three piece suits, beautiful Italian loafers, straw fedoras and even the occasional man bag. Men do have fashion choices that many choose not to exercise under the mistaken impression that it doesn't matter. Believe me, it does. (Swoon!)

DEUX) For Interior Design, I read Design Sponge like everyone else on the planet. I check in no more than once a week, because its a bit too "BUY! BUY! BUY!" for my taste, but she definitely has her finger on the trend pulse. I absolutely love her regular feature, DIY Wednesdays with Derek and Lauren. It picks up where the pre-K-Mart Martha Stewart Living magazine's Good Things feature left off. Have you looked at any recent issues? Ugh! Its all cupcakes decorated with marshmallows to look like kittens and innovative uses for saran wrap.

TROIS) I enjoy San Francisco Girl by Bay because she keeps it all about inspiration and gives shout outs to other cool artists/bloggers/designers. I'm always coming across amazing links and talented people on her site. This blog definitely makes me wish we'd won the lottery and could afford a beautiful sun filled apartment right on the Bay. I'd move to San Fran in a heartbeat.

QUATRE)For general artsiness, I love Cup of Joe. Her blog is full of beautiful things, but there is also an intelligence and depth to it that is rare in blogs. Her blog never reads like a list of things to buy to make you cool. Its more like, hey, this inspired me, check it out. I love her laid back, thoughtful, don't try too hard style. It seems so modern to me.

CINQ)I don't read Cooking Blogs in Shenzhen because the recipes are full of common, standard, right off the shelf American ingredients that are painfully difficult to track down in China. But when I'm back in the U.S of A you can bet I'll be checking out 101 Cookbooks a lot more often.

Mr. Till, Mr. Prigge, and Mr. Livingston, if you're reading this, consider yourselves tagged and make us a post about your favorite blogs/webspots!

FIN!