A friend ‘gave’ me a library book for my birthday and with only 3 weeks to read it, I jumped right in. Blog, Inc.: Blogging for Passion, Profit, and to Create Community by Joy Deangdeelert Cho is a great read for a newbie to the blogging world. I am learning a lot and am already questioning my direction. (This is probably good to do now before I actually tell more than 10 people that I am blogging. Right?) … I should clarify, when I say NEWBIE, I am referring to writing a blog. I am a self-admitting blog-a-holic when it comes to reading them. I scan about a dozen or so daily – some through e-mail subscription, some by bookmarks and some from my Google homepage.

When I first announced I was blogging, a few peeps said “I don’t know what a blog is, but I’ll read yours!” (Thanks guys.) A blog is an online space you can update as frequently as you want. It can relate to your life and career… Sort of like an online journal / scrapbook / photo album. For me, I like the lifestyle approach – a bit of personal mixed with professional. My long-term goal is to offer an East Coast perspective to design, lifestyle, shopping and fashion. It’s about time I toot my local horn. eh?

So – why am I blogging? Why not? Even if only a few people read Hello Sunshine – it’s a fun why to archive the going-ons of life. I work at home, and Henry (the dog) offers little for conversation – It can get lonely! I need to chat and talk about lovely things especially since I spend most of my time immersed in advertorial design. According to all of the ‘experts’ (other self-employed design people who blog), blogging is a great way to spread the word and share your offerings in a less structured online portfolio kind-of-way. Example: if I work on a sister-in-law’s party invite, I can blog about it right away… Oh wait, I just did that. Happy birthday Rachel. I have some big plans ahead, like actually building a proper blog space, however attempting a weekly update is good enough for now. -xo-meg

In celebration of the blog, here is a list of the blogs I love and follow:

TOP FIVE Reads:

1. Grace Bonney of Design*Sponge is the queen of design blog site. Sneak Peak is my favourite weekly feature because it allows us to spy inside amazing homes. Her book is a must-have too!
2. Oh Happy Day is a great party-planning and lifestyle blog. Jordan lives in San Francisco, has an adorable family, and makes pretty crafts for parties.
3. Oh Joy (yes, the same Joy who wrote the book I mentioned at the beginning) also lives in California and is a major go-getter full of inspiration.
4. The Design Files comes from Australia, which is a nice change from all of the California blogs I read. The homes she photographs are amazing and her photos are full of colour. Lucy has great ideas and resources.
5. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Lainey Gossip. I’ve been a daily reader since 2005 and it fulfills my not-so-secret love of celebrity smut.

And here are the other blogs I read (let me break it down):

Design-lifestyle

• Young House Love
• Making It Lovely
• Unruly Things
• Design For Mankind
• And Katheleen (lifestyle), Braid Creative (professional)
• Michelle Edgemont (wedding designer extraordinaire)
• Lovely Morning
• The Brick House
• Design Love Fest
• Apartment Therapy
• Black Eiffel
• A Cup of Jo
• Design Mom (sister of Oh Happy Day)
• Say Yes to Hoboken (sister-in-law Oh Happy Day and Design Mom)
• Little Green Notebook
• SF Girl By Bay

More about pretty paper and print making

• Sycamore Street Press
• Oh So Beautiful Paper
• Paper Lovely
• Orange Beautiful
• Inkwell Boutique (favourite local store!)

More about style

• Wendy’s Lookbook
• Unofficial Tumblr dedicated to all things J. Crew
• Kate Spade New York Tumblr page

Mostly just pretty to look at

• Tiny White Daisies
• The Glow (a glimpse into the world of inspiring and fashionable moms)