Monday mentions (vol. 3)

Phew, what a weekend! It went by in a flash.

I’m happy to report that no one got punched in the face at my husband’s high school reunion. In fact, it was actually a really nice night, and I met some amazing people. Sorry it was so anticlimactic.

Here’s a pic of the dress before I steam-ironed it. I didn’t get a great photo of me actually wearing it out that night, so this will have to do. It was super comfy to wear out, and it has pockets!

I’ll need to buy a new strapless bra to wear with this dress in the future. The old one I had thrown out because it didn’t fit anymore after I lost weight, so I had to do a rush to the shops and ended up with a stick-on bra instead. Turns out my skin reacts to that adhesive, so that was fun.

Anyways, onto the point of this post.

We’re in week 2 of NaBloPoMo now – National Blog Posting Month, hosted by San from The In Between Is Mine. I’m on track, with a post every day so far. I’ve also been looking at the list of people that signed on to participate this year.

My goal is to start reading and commenting on every single one. Of course, I can’t do that immediately without overwhelming myself, so if you’re reading this and I haven’t commented yet, I’m on my way! My process is to pick the first bunch of sites, add them to Feedly, and then start working through the posts. There are 30 bloggers that signed up, so if I did that immediately, I’d be hit with 30 new posts every day. Yikes!

I’m also getting into a routine of reading blogs while I’m doing a workout on my bike (thankfully, I can sit up and hold my phone to reply while smashing my legs, provided it’s a hill climb or endurance ride and not a sprint). Also a few times during the day, instead of doomscrolling on social media.

All of that to say, I’m discovering a lot of cool new blogs this month. Which means Monday Mentions gets to come back – yay!! I think ongoing I might repurpose this theme to start sharing posts I’ve been reading that I’ve really enjoyed. Kind of a “what’s going on in bloggy land” sort of thing. Please let me know in the comments if that’s something you’d enjoy reading!

So without further ado, here are some new blogs I’ve discovered thanks to NaBloPoMo:

• The Brighton Jotter – Aussie blogger alert!! I got to meet Melissa when she was on my home turf on the Sunshine Coast, and had a great coffee catch-up. She’s absolutely lovely, and I really enjoy reading her stories of travel, running training, photos, and other things she’s got going on.
  
• Craftalicious Me – Tobia is a blogger based in Germany. We have a lot in common, particularly goal-setting (she writes a 101 things in 1001 days list). I really enjoy reading Tobia’s stories, blackout poetry (by redacting words to just leave a poem; it’s very interesting), and other random things. She just posted a really interesting tutorial on mini orange peel wreaths, though I’m sure that wouldn’t go down well with my Australian humidity.
  
• Anthea Booysen – Anthea lives in South Africa. Before November, Anthea was posting about once a month or so. I really enjoy her posts, which this month have been focused on lists of five. For example, 5 things she did on the weekend instead of scrolling, 5 books she could read again, 5 of her favourite TV series. (Anthea, if you end up reading this, I hope you write more because I’m really glad to have discovered your site).
  
• Our New Journey – Coco lives in Brasilia, and instantly had my heart when I read she was running a marathon. Unfortunately, it didn’t go as planned, but she powered through. Coco writes about her personal life, her family, and being a mum. Her daughters are slightly older than my son, but I’ve already learned a thing or two that have made me ponder my own parenting style, and what needs a bit of… um, consideration, I suppose I’d put it.
  
• Life Off Headset – Diane is a stage manager, which basically means I’m now living my backstage dreams through her blog. She recently posted a two-part series on when she decided to become a stage manager, which I found really fascinating (start reading here). Plus, Diane posts what she’s been reading, which essentially means she’s partially to blame for my TBR chaos (kidding). I think Diane’s posts are what make me love reading biographies – getting to follow along with someone’s life that’s so different to mine.

So that’s it for this week; I’m going to keep it to 5 so that the post doesn’t drag on for too long. But I have so many more to feature in the next few weeks!

NaBloPoMo has introduced me to some fantastic blogs already, and I’m so, so glad I decided to participate! My little bloggy heart is full.

Have you discovered a new blog this month that you’re loving?