Even though I wrote my first post for Inward Facing Girl in 2009, I didn’t consider myself a blogger until this year. 2011 is the year that I really started working on a lot of things and turned my occasional online journal into what you see today.
One of my favorite columns that I came up with in 2011 is this one, You’re My Obsession. As you know, I’m obsessed with a LOT of things. I’m going to try to do the impossible right now and (somehow) choose my top 5 10 obsessions of 2011.
Note: Drew said that I have to tell you that my husband and my son are my top two obsessions, always. I tried to explain to him that I only have 10 spots on this list and 5 spots the rest of the year, and even though I’m crazier about him than Pinterest (ish? Kidding, Sweetie!…ish?), I would never do that to you guys.
Blogs
2011 was my year of discovering and falling in love with blogs, particularly those of the pretty design variety. Here are a few of the blogs I discovered and became completely mad over this year.
You can read the interviews that I did with a few of these bloggers in my Blogspiration series.
Pinterest changed my life. It’s a magical place. I get so much inspiration from the site, I get to save my own snippets of inpiration that I find elsewhere, and I get to organize things and look at pretty pictures at the same time. I’ve used it to organize images for blog posts, shopping lists, a visual representation of my Mighty Life List, keep track of artists that I like, and store things that I would like my son to like I think my son might like someday.
Being featured on the official Pinterest blog was a thrill, and I love the site so much that I had to create my own regular blog feature called Pinspiration.
Portland
I fell in mad love with a place this year. And that place is named Portland. I’ve been there a few times before, but when I visited in April, I felt like a magnetic field was pulling me closer, plying me with lattes, covering me with the softest of blankets while whispering, “Come. Join us.”
Taking Photographs
I’ve been into photography for a while, but this year I took it to the next level. I actually read my entire camera manual. My husband enrolled me in a photography workshop as a birthday gift. I’ve been Instagraming like a madwoman. I take so many photos of my coffee and food that Drew has to remind me that they don’t stay warm forever. I can look at photographs from the past year and see improvement, which makes me super happy. Here’s some progression from January 2011 until now.
Alt Design Summit
The discovery of the Altitude Design Summit was incredible. Past schedules read like a who’s who of my favorite bloggers, and I became completely obsessed with attending it in January 2012. It’s less than a month away now, and I’ve already learned so much from the online classes that have been hosted to prepare us for the awesomeness.
Magazines
In 2011 I let my subscriptions to O, Psychology Today, Yoga Journal, and Vogue expire, and found true love in UPPERCASE and Anthology. I found inspiration in online publications like Lonny, Matchbook, Rue, and We Like We Love. I ordered a digital subscription to Print, and subscribed to the print version of How. I resubscribed to some old favorites (Elle Decor, Dwell, and Nylon), and discovered Gray, a brand new Pacific Northwest design magazine.
Photograph by Janine Vangool
Design
From having a perfectly styled refrigerator, to needing white dishes, to choosing the best fonts and packaging, design of all types has been one of my top obsessions of the year. Remember when I actually fell in love with a bowl? In addition to some of the other websites and blogs already mentioned in this list, some of my favorite links to click when I’m jonesing for inspiration or a design fix include Fab, Pantone, COLOURlovers, Kirtsy, Trendland, The Dieline, and Design*Sponge.
Photograph via Pantone Blog
A Glimpse into the Lives of Creative People
Not only do I care about the work that artists, photographers, and designers create, but I am also dying to know where they do it and how they live. Todd Selby sparked this interest with his website (The Selby) and book The Selby Is In Your Place.
Photograph by Todd Selby
The Glow is another one of my absolute favorites. You’ve seen me gush about it before, I’m sure. It’s kind of like The Selby for creative moms. I love it.
Photograph by Kelly Stuart
Art I Heart
I learned about some fantastic artists and photographers this year, and had the good fortune of being able to purchase some of their work. Here are some of my favorites. Note: Clicking on the image will take you directly to the artist’s shop.
Fifi du Vie
Lisa Congdon
Elle Moss
Cassia Beck
2011 was the year that I began to spend more time on Twitter talking to people I haven’t met (yet) than on Facebook talking to people I’ve known in real life forever. I’ve met a lot of fun people from the Blog Brunch tweetfest that I “attend” on the first Saturday of every month. I’ve been able to “chat” with some of my favorite artists and bloggers. I’ve met some new people that I’ve ended up meeting in person, or will meet at Alt, and I’ve learned about some amazing things through this form of social media.
Whew! Okay. This took longer than I thought. I hope you guys enjoyed a trip down 2011 obsession memory lane. I can’t even imagine that cool things I’m going to be obsessing over in 2012, and I hope you’ll come along for the ride. xo