Week in Review... 1/20/11

What a week. I like to keep my blog a happy, sunshine-y place, but this one was a toughie. It all started on Friday the 13^th… we had an intruder in our apartment. Everything ended up being fine but it was incredibly scary. And then this week… I’ve just been a little down, in a bit of a rut. Ever have those feelings of mediocrity? Sometimes I just get sad. I’m probably my own toughest critic and also one of those people who could hear 99 positive things and one negative thing, but only remember the negative one. This blog has grown past my wildest expectations, and last month I hit a pageview number I didn’t think possible. But rather than celebrate, I agonize over whether what I’m putting up here is good enough, and how I’m going to achieve the same sort of growth the next month. Sigh.

Anyway, I’m headed to Utah for the next nine days… hoping some Sundance, snow, and QT with the boyfriend will recharge the batteries. But now I’ve digressed… I’ve wanted to start doing a regular Friday round-up of Internet goodness for quite some time, so here goes! Behold… my favorite things from the Internet this week!

{image via Breakfast at Toast}

I fell in love with The Glitter Guide’s profile of Rachel Dooley (the founder of Gemma Redux.) She’s such an inspiration to me. I always love hearing about women who managed to start their own businesses while maintaining their day jobs at first… she did just that.

Looking to better your blog? Then you will LOVE Victoria’s new mini ALT Week series. She tackles building community, photography, curating great content, photoshop + design, working with brands, and the miscellaneous stuff. It’s a MUST read.

I loved reading Style.com’s Spring Trend Report. It’s a tough call, but I think Ocean’s 12 and Pale Fire are my favorites. I think I’ll skip Ab Fab… but it’s certainly all very fun to look at.

The new edition of Rue Magazine is fabulous… potentially one of my favorite issues thus far. Even more fabulous, they featured my new friend, Danielle Moss’s gorgeous Chicago Studio! I love all the white… what a relaxing and inviting place to call home.

Mackenzie Horan takes on a gorgeous color combination (making me yearn for Spring!) Pink and aqua… so fresh + fun. I still can’t believe the maxi skirt she featured was from Old Navy.

I am seriously obsessed and blown away by The Beauty Department’s Missoni Manicure. Doesn’t get more clever… completely worth the extra effort.

I loved In Honor of Design’s Message in a Bottle DIY. Truly, the perfect Valentine’s Day project!

Want to sparkle like the Charlize at the Emmy’s? I loved Jenni from I Spy DIY’s headband DIY… so fun – and easy! Headbands never fit my giant head… so I’m thinking this could be a must-do project since I can size it to fit properly.

And one last one… I wrote a post for IFB… what I learned about blogging from working for P&G! I hope you like it.