this is my one-hundreth post

or 10 blogs I like and why:

Back when I started this thing on Dec. 7, 2009, I had no idea what I was doing - still don't. But I did have a vague idea of why I wanted to do it. I love pretty things, I like to journal, I like to take pictures to remember my life (I have a terrible memory), and I like to take pictures of Marcel because I think he is adorable. I wanted a "place" I could put these things so that I can look at them and enjoy them and perhaps some other people might too.

(pretty)

But it wasn't until I tripped over Mabel's House that I realized that the kind of blog I wanted to do was just some kind of extension of myself. I think Liz does this brilliantly and eloquently as she writes about her life: her house, her decorating, her dog Mabel, her yard, her sisters, her man's cooking (would be nice to be able to post about that!) - and she does it all with her own photos of her own surroundings - I love it all! So thank you to Liz for the inspiration and for starting my obsession with vintage pottery.

(the bowl that started it all)

One day Liz introduced me to Elsa Mora & her blog The Hidden Seed. Elsa is an incredible artists and I absolutely adore her sweetness, thoughtfulness and great style. This woman knows how to rock lots of colour and poufy skirts and she illustrates her own beautiful & fanciful backgrounds. She inspired me to start doing "outfit of the week" because half the reason I get up in the morning is just to put on something pretty that makes me smile. But I find taking the actual self-portraits logistically challenging (I always seem to cut off my head). So I've been slacking on that although there have been some particularly inspired outfits lately with the change in the weather and the arrival of some new boots.

(miz mooz boots)

Emily from cupcakes & cashmere also inspires me with her personal style. She rocks the soft-n-girly with rock-n-roll footwear and was so helpful when I was figuring out how to wear my super-sale-impulse-purchase rocker booties.

(last outfit of the week)

My love of swearing and interior design meant that I was bound to find Jenny at My Favorite and My Best at some point and of course I have been in love with her ever since. She is rude and she is funny as shit - and she has very good taste. And insane sparkle-talent that means she can find insanely wicked stuff on craiglist anywhere in North America. She also posts about the transformations going on in her house and funny things like trying the Tracy Anderson Method (and she loves Gerard Butler as much as I do).

Jenny led me to Raina Cox at If the Lampshade Fits. This woman is funny-dry-acerbic-funny, has incredible taste and loves to point out when other people don't. She is also renovating an amazing house which she lovingly refers to as her Barbie dream house because "life is too short to live ugly" - I would have to agree.

And because I really do love a well detailed renovation job, I found my way to Naomi at thirteenth and south. She and her other half are in the midst of GUTTING a row house in South Philly. Naomi knows what she is doing here because she owns a remodeling firm with her dad and the progress she is making on this place is amazing. Also, she's funny.

Elizabeth at A Quirky Delight is just that - and I love a good quirky delight. She describes herself thus: "I have a dirty mouth and a twisted sense of humor. Just like your mom. (See?)" - and I could not sum it up better. We both like shoes, diys and ranunculus.

Which is why I love the gals of small stump & studio choo. The beauty that goes on in that place makes me sooooo happy and gives rise to dreams of opening a flower shop ...

which my friend Alison of Coriander Girl actually did recently - so brave of her!

She is an incredibly talented florist who loves to get down to great tunes and kiss all the doggies that show up in her gorgeous and sweet little shop in Parkdale.

Last but not least is Boops from A Very Curious Cookie who got me thinking about why I like all of these blogs in the first place. She had me at "hello" with her "Jeffrey Dean Morgan moments of the week", her lovely photos of where she lives now (being originally from Canada), her kindness towards animals and her encouraging comments on my blog - thanks so much for these!

This is an incredibly lovely community to be a part of and I'm seriously enjoying my time here. I hope I've contributed to you all enyoying it too!

xo - Jessica