The days of skimming through the daily newspaper over a cup of joe in the morning seem to be those of a bygone era. The once familiar yellowed paper and smell of newsprint have gone the way of the VHS tape. And yes, I’ve actually heard someone refer to printed newspapers as “retro.”

In their place, we have the internet – magical provider of anything you’ve ever had any desire to read. Instead of casually flipping through the fragile pages of printed word, we now affix our eyes to the glow of our computer screens which are being flooded with content from every source imaginable. While these sources do include professional authors, reporters and journalists, they also include every Tom, Dick and Mary who has something to say and can figure out how to set up a WordPress account.

Navigating through the blogosphere can be a bit daunting – I would have given up by now if it wasn’t for Google Reader. So, I thought I’d offer you my help and profile some local St. Louis bloggers worth checking out.

I surveyed fellow blogger friends (in person and on Twitter), and asked them who their favorite St. Louis bloggers are. I got so many responses that I decided to split this post into two parts. So, without furter ado, here is the first installment. Look for the second one next Monday!

Bring Your Own Jock Jams

Blogger: Courtney Brunsfeld

What is your blog about? My blog is about jock jams.  You know, C&C Music Factory, Gary Glitter…songs you would hear at sporting events.  Just kidding!!  The blog is only about jock jams around 20% of the time.  BYOJJ is about everything, anything, and nothing.  If it makes me laugh or if I think it will make other people laugh, I’ll write about it.  Selection of recent blog topics: pop culture updates (Justin Bieber, Chatroulette), 5 foods I would eat if I had a terminal illness, does every kiss begin with Kay?, facebook v. twitter, and how the iPhone assists in bad decision making.  The goal is to entertain readers, and 100% of my research is done on Wikipedia.

How long have you been blogging and what inspired you to start? I am relatively new to blogging.  I started BYOJJ about six months ago. I started my blog with the encouragement of friends and other bloggers.  People would always tell me they thought I was funny on Facebook and Twitter, and they suggested I start a blog.  I agonized over finding the right topic, but realized I don’t actually know enough about anything in particular to start a blog on something specific like food, music, or St. Louis.  I joke on my blog that the things I know about are jock jams, doing the running man, drinking, and golden retrievers.

What are some of your favorite blogs to read? Some of my favorite local blogs are Arch Observer, Urban Review STL, Running from the Law, and a lot of the local music blogs, especially Speakers in Code, A to Z, and 5 Score Pachyderm.

 

Running from the Law

Blogger: Sara McCarty

What is your blog about? In simplest terms, my blog is about my life.  I’m a newlywed attorney with a passion for food and handbags, armed with a camera, willing to travel and try just about anything once.  I typically write about my hobbies and interests, including cooking, sewing, photography, shopping and running.  I blog about trips and vacations I take, weddings and events I attend, races I run, home improvements I make, cooking and sewing classes I take and meals I cook.

How long have you been blogging and what inspired you to start? It will be 3 years in September. Off and on. It’s been much more consistent over the last year. My blog started as a way for me to keep my friends and family updated on my training for the St. Louis Marathon.  I was raising money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society with Team in Training and thought a blog would be the perfect way to document my progress, both in running and fund-raising.  I was surprised that so many people were actually interested in what I had to say and I quickly fell in love with writing about my interests and adventures.  After the marathon, my blog became more focused around wedding planning, since that basically consumed my life at the time.  Post-wedding, it’s turned into a newlywed blog about my day-to-day life and whatever happens to be on my mind at the time.  It’s a work in progress, constantly changing directions, with a mind of its own.  It’s exciting because I never know where my posts will lead me!

What are some of your favorite blogs to read? Just like my blog focus, the blogs I read have changed with what’s important to me at the time.  My favorite blogs to read are usually the ones that are similar to mine, depending on what I’m writing about at that moment.  When I was training for the marathon, I loved reading blogs about running, nutrition, people’s training progress, overcoming obstacles and inspiring race stories.  When I was planning my wedding, I couldn’t live without gorgeous daily wedding inspiration from Style Me Pretty, Snippet & Ink, Once Wed, Ritzy Bee, and Southern Weddings.  This is also when I discovered how many real life brides were blogging about their wedding planning and their lives.  I start following many of these brides-to-be, who are now newlyweds and new moms, blogging about their new lives.  I’ve continued to follow many of them, watching their lives take similar paths as mine, amazed at how much I have in common with so many fellow bloggers around the country.  In addition to these bloggers, I love reading The Pioneer Woman because she shares my passion for food, cooking, photography, trivia, dogs and kids. Her posts are always funny and smart and humble and filled with amazing pictures.  She’s been a real inspiration to me and so many bloggers.

 

I’m staying in St. Louis because…

Blogger: Alex Ihnen

What is your blog about? Love notes to St. Louis (photos and reasons to love St. Louis submitted by local residents)

What inspired you to start? Lots of people love St. Louis, but we don’t share that love often enough.

Landlocked Bride

Blogger: Brit Tucker

What is your blog about? Landlocked Bride is a wedding blog catering to Midwest and Mountain West Brides.  I feature daily inspiration, real weddings and vendors (from the Midwest/Mountain West, of course), Tuesday Shoesday and any other bits and pieces I think the modern bride in the middle of the country can appreciate.

How long have you been blogging and what inspired you to start? I have been blogging for nearly 8 years, but have been in charge of the Landlocked Bride for 1 1/2 years. I initially started the wedding blog as a way to keep distant family and friends in the loop on my wedding planning.  My fiance’s family, and many of my college friends do not live in St. Louis, so I wanted to make sure they didn’t feel left out.  A few months into it, it sort of evolved into a blog to help out the Midwest/Mountain West bride.  There aren’t very many wedding blogs that cater to the middle of the country, and I felt a strong desire to want to bring some of the great inspiration that the Coasts and the South have right to the heart of the U.S.

What are some of your favorite blogs to read? I pretty much love most wedding blogs – Martha Stewart Weddings has a great daily blog with fun inspiration, EAD Weddings, Dog ‘n Bird, and The Knotty Bride are some of the wedding blogs I frequent on a daily basis.  Weddingbee is another good one (can’t help but plug, since I happen to be Miss Argyle on the site).  I love just about any photographer’s blog. I fall in love with photos so easily, it is just so fun to get caught up in them!  Young House Love is a great site for home inspiration and DIY projects for around your house.  And, I cannot forget Design*Sponge. Love, love, love the ideas that come out of that site!

 

Half-Pint House

Blogger: Megan Dunham

What is your blog about? My blog doesn’t really have a specific niche. I blog about my family, things we do in St. Louis and occasionally become a social commentator, but not very often. I don’t have the energy for comment debates. *wink*

How long have you been blogging and what inspired you to start? I began almost 6 1/2 years ago. Yikes, that’s a long time. I process the world best by writing and that’s how it began. My husband had a blog and I enjoyed the interaction his online “journal” entries were getting, so I started one of my own. I keep going at it now because I still process the world best by writing and I enjoy it. I also enjoy some of the little freebies I’m able to get sometimes as a result of having an online presence.

What are some of your favorite blogs to read? Gretchen at Lifenut, Craig at Second Drafts and The Pioneer Woman (like the rest of the world).

Don’t forget to come back next Monday to read about five more stars in the St. Louis blogosphere!

Carlie is an Editor for Girls Guide, and also blogs at carliecrash.com. By day she is an educational textbook editor, and she moonlights as a foodie and barfly.  You can email her at carlie [at] girlsguidetothegalaxy [dot] com, and you can follow her on Twitter – @carbirwin.

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