The benefits of blogging

Since I started blogging earlier this year (thanks to the encouragement of my friend Sarah), I have discovered some pretty awesome things and that there are a LOT of benefits to blogging.

This blog may be one tiny little website compared to the millions of blogs out there, but it's my own corner of the internet and has opened up a lot of new things to me.

What things you say?

Well. I. Shall. Share.

My blog has served as an outlet. 

I get to express everything i'm feeling, thinking or doing, AND I can do it whenever I want. But the even cooler part? I get to share it with anyone who would like to read it. And, oh I dunno, maybe somewhere, some quiet person is actually ENJOYING reading my blog and likes what I have to say. one can hope here.

I have discovered some AWESOME blogs. 

I may or may not spend a lot of time perusing other blogs. Ok, I spend way too much time reading other blogs. But, along the way, i've found blogs by women who are at ALL stages in their lives (20 something, kids, divorced, brides to be, etc) and it is so inspiring to read other peoples stories. To see what they have to share. That other people have bad and stressful days too. Regardless of who you are, what your beliefs are, and what chapter you are in your life, there are other people experiencing things similar to you. That's what's so awesome about blogging...it's a way to share your thoughts, your feelings, your trials and triumphs, and maybe you will inspire others to do the same.



The best part.......These blogs I follow? They share COOL things.

Seriously. I've learned all kinds of things since I began stalking, ahem, reading a ton of blogs, I've picked up some awesome recipes and discovered some fascinating tips on everything from style, to cleaning, to links to other helpful websites.

And I've scored some pretty cute items.

One of the first deals I came across was a promotion (thanks to THIS awesome blog) from minted.com and I was able to score some personal cards for free (you only had to pay the cost of shipping). At the time, I had no clue what I would do with these cards, since most women use them as "mommy calling cards" and well, I'm not a mommy, but these have come in handy. You never know these days who you might meet or run into, and these cards are a great and quick way to help someone remember you. And since our company is really uptight about giving out our company contact info unless it's work related, I use these bad boys any time I want someone to contact me. And they were FREE. need I say more?

The next BIG thing I discovered, and if you are a blogger, you have probably heard of this AMAZING woman and her gift to the organization world, Erin Condren's Life Planners. I blogged earlier this year about how I have an addiction to finding THE perfect day planner, and needless to say, I found it. The price tag for these planners is a little high, but the quality, style, and personalization that goes into making these planners is worth every penny. Seriously.

doesn't it just look FUN?

Another deal that I heard about recently through a friend, showed up on this blog I ran across the other day.
Birchbox.com is this amazing website where you can sign up to receive monthly samples of the latest and greatest beauty products. For $10 a month, you will receive 5-6 samples of haircare, skincare, and makeup products. These will be customized for you based on the beauty profile you fill out. After you try them, you can go to their website and rank/review the products. Birchbox has all the products in full size for sale if you like your sample enough to keep buying them. But, if you are like me, you will be in it for the samples. I'm always on the hunt for new/quick fix solutions to hair and skin issues, so this should be a fun trial for me. I just signed up and i'm waiting my first month of samples. I'll definitely be blogging about my boxes in the future, i'm sure. The even greater part of this website is that you can sign up for your samples month to month. So if it's not all you thought it was cracked up to be, there is no long term commitment and you can back out at any time.


^^^These are just a few examples of my new favorite things I've found recently thanks to other blogs reviews and suggestions.

A lot of my friends have mentioned how much they would love to start a blog but have a lot of reservations. (i'm too busy, no one would read it, I have nothing good to say, it's out there for anyone to read it, etc). And here's my advice. You have nothing to lose and a ton to gain. Your blog may be only read by a few people a day. Or some random person may stumble across it and share your tips with the world. And you will discover a whole new internet world full of advice and people just like you sharing their every day discoveries.