I was reminded today that I need to give credit where credit is due for so many reasons. It feels good to give out kudos to others and even better when the favor is returned. During the past six months I have immersed myself in research for starting my blog, acquiring at least 15 new books (which I will share in future posts), subscriptions to over 20 new blogs (Google Reader shows I have over 500 new posts to read, ack!), started tweeting, DIGG-ing and all that jazz. Its hard being the new kid on the block especially when you are so behind the learning curve.

You need to know there are some INCREDIBLE blogs out there to read. I had no idea when I was writing mine that a blog could be so much more than just an online web log (web+log=blog). One of my all time favorite blogs is the infamous The Pioneer Woman by Ree Drummond. She embodies everything that I aspire to be; a good mom, an educator, a chef, a writer, a comedian, a photographer, a gardener and even a rancher (well maybe not the rancher part, ha ha!). Her website is actually 6 blogs in one site. Make sure you check out each and every one of them if you don’t find inspiration I would be shocked and if you become a loyal reader of hers you’ll start to recognize the “PDUB” influence on the Modchik.

A few weeks ago a couple photos of my cat, Weebee were featured in her Cat Photography Contest here and here which is HUGE (I didn’t stop smiling about this for days) … the pool for these contests are in the thousands. I was so honored to be included. What do you think of our Abyssinian, pretty cool huh?

Ree recently published a cookbook The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl

My husband and kids think she has the BEST Chicken Pot Pie in the world (only second to mine). Your cookbook library is not complete without hers! Not only are her recipes easy & delicious but her photography is featured all throughout. A special note for those of you who want to start cooking, Ree photographs each step in her recipes so there is no guessing, love the visuals!

I can’t say enough about how much JOY her work brings into my life (me and a few million others) so Thank You Ree for your beautiful site.

I have another blog to thank and she happens to live only a few zip codes away from me. Her site started back in October of 2009 and it has taken off like CRAZY! Lucky for me we run in the same blogging circles so I had the opportunity met Shanna from My Favorite Everything. The brains behind MFE is also a mother of three beautiful little girls all under the age of 2 (yep, you read that right… apparently she moonlights as a super-hero!). My Favorite Everything features all of her favorite items that help make her world (and hopefully yours) better and brighter. Its a cheery site loaded with great finds and it was her website that was the catalyst for The Modchik. In December My Favorite Everything ran a giveaway for a free website package from Zee-Studio and that was all I needed to get my mojo on! Unfortunately I didn’t win but Sara of sarah + abraham did and her winning package produced the new site oh my! Handmade Goodness, a community for individuals and designers who make handmade goods for kids. A product of the incredibly talented Susie Schindler of Zee-Studio, oh my! has a a great resource list for kids products, check it out you’ll find it easily in this well designed site. This takes me to my next Thank You…

I am indebted to Susie @ Zee Studio.

Working with Susie has been an incredible journey she has brought me from the days of just a pageful of notes to a full blown mulit-page website that embodies everything that makes me well… me, the Modchik. Her willingness to guide and teach me throughout the entire process has been a true gift and I thank her for that.

I remember Shanna liking the creation of My Favorite Everything to ‘birthing a child’ and she was 100% spot on. It is like having a baby, no sleep, sometime days without a shower, lucky to get a hot meal on the table because the process just consumes you but in a good way, does that make sense? I don’t mind going to bed at 3 am just to get a few more reads in and I know that my web guru Susie will be awake and on the other end of that hundredth email asking her for help. I am so lucky to have all these sources of inspiration around me.

You’ll find more of my recommendations for blogs, books and articles on a daily basis as soon as I get these training wheels off. In the meantime please keep your comments and suggestions coming! You can send your suggestions to me at Lindsey@themodchik.com.

PS – I also wanted to thank Kathleen Enge (blogger and photographer extraordinaire) for her help with photographing the Stella & Dot Event if you didn’t catch the action you need to click here for the story or just scroll down for a chance to win $75 in bling!

(disclosure: embedded links to Amazon are from my associate account and sales generated as a result of that link may provide a small commission which will be used for future website giveaways and gift cards)