Beautiful Blogs

Well, as you know, I was fortunate enough to have received an award for a Beautiful Blog. Thank you, again, Kate! But the stipulation to receiving that award was I had to hand out 15 additional awards to other bloggers who I felt had beautiful blogs as well. This is something I have definitely been putting off simply because there are too many too choose from and I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. With that said, I have begun narrowing things down and am going to announce to you 8 (in no particular order) of the 15 awards that I am handing out. The remaining awards will be handed out next week.

It's obvious that most of the blogs I follow and love are cooking and baking blogs, so it's only natural that I would spend a majority of my time handing out Beautiful Blogger awards to other foodies! But don't be fooled, there are other things that I enjoy as well, which means there will be other bloggers receiving this award who fall into other categories other than food! Shall we begin?!

1. Annie's Eats - Oh my, where do I begin?! Annie is Super Woman! She is a devoted wife and mother, a resident physician and an absolutely amazing cook and baker! She seriously does it all and for many of us foodies, would be considered our hero! The best part: she's normal like you and I and she's humbling with her kindness and generosity. Need I say more?!

2. Beantown Baker - Definitely one of my favorites! I remember the first time I fell in love with Jen's blog - when she made the Pumpkin Pie Snickerdoodle Bars. The picture alone said it all and the taste definitely put me over the edge! She, too, is a great cook and baker and I absolutely love seeing her ideas and dishes come to life! To top it off, she is my troop leader in Operation Baking Gals...it doesn't get any better than that!

3. Big City Cooking - Nicole is a Chi-town foodie with a love for cooking and has built her career around it! She recently graduated from culinary school and has opened up her own catering business, Three Square, where she works throughout the city as a Personal Chef and small event caterer. Her food always looks delish and always makes me hungry after looking at it!

4. A Year in the Kitchen - Ashlee is probably one of the most adorable foodies! Just look at her...isn't she adorable?! And what an inspiration she is in the kitchen! She has opened her horizons to cooking food from over 30 countries and recently just launched her own cookbook, "A Year in the Kitchen." Congrats Ashlee on your new success!

5. Culinary Concoctions by Peabody - Well I am almost speechless when it comes to Peabody! She never ceases to amaze me with her delectable concoctions! Seriously, this girl can bake and she is so super creative when it comes to developing some tasty treats! Most of her work is dessert-esque and I'm not kidding when I say that every time I read a new post of hers, I literally want to eat my computer screen!

6. Delish - This is one of the first blogs I started following - I love the clean layout and simplicity of this blog; it really stands out amongst others and the bright, colorful pictures Ashley presents of her food definitely complements it. She has a lot of great recipes that I have made and enjoyed, including dog treats for the normal animal lover. And her blog shares the name with one of my favorite words: delish!

7. Frugal Home Ideas - Obviously this is not a cooking blog but it definitely covers one of my other loves and hobbies: home decorating! Stephanie is normal and like most people where she wants her home to look nice and inviting but she has to do it on a budget. The creativity behind her thinking process and the finished products she comes up with is incredible and very healthy on the pocketbook! A lot of her designs and ideas mimic those of Pottery Barn, West Elm, and Crate & Barrel to name a few. Her frugalness has taken her home from ordinary to extraordinary!

8. LeslieSarna - Oh my goodness...Leslie is absolutely A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E! I know I said Ashlee was (and she is) but so is Leslie! She's just one of those people that looks like she could light up a room with her personality and smile! And I think she would be fun to hang out with...my kind of girl! Just too cute! Believe it or not, Leslie is a vegetarian but she is my kind of vegetarian in that she really doesn't do the whole tofu, soy, gross-eating kind of stuff! She uses real ingredients and beautiful, fresh veggies. I think if I were ever to make the switch from omnivore to herbivore I would pretty much follow Leslie's meals from day to day!

Okay, there you have it....your first 8 Beautiful Bloggers! If you haven't already, you should definitely take some time to check each and every one of them out! I guarantee, you won't be disappointed! Happy blogging y'all!