Blogs that make my day!

So, Vivian over at Life With Kerri was so sweet as to nominate me for a blog award today, and apparently my mission is to name five blogs that make MY day (without re-nominating Viv, which is too bad since she certainly does make my day...and quite often, I might add!)
Now, the toughest thing about this task is the number. Five is WAY too few. You may not have noticed, but I love to blog, and I love to read blogs. On the right you can see a partial list (partial because I can't ever keep up with linking my favorites) of my daily blog log. I have so many beloved blogs that choosing five is a truly ludicrous exercise. So I'm just gonna close my eyes and take the leap. I will try to list blogs that I don't mention all the time (because there are some that I do) and not all will be adoption-related. Here's a very random five that raise my spirits at the moment:

- For Zoey: because Stacie takes such beautiful pictures, because of her dear heart and infectious joie de vivre, because of her beautiful smile and heartfelt words and (needless to say) because it's such a joy to watch Zoey grow!

- Musings: because she always finds the most wonderful things from every corner of the world. Every day I check in to see what gorgeous poem, what stunning photograph, what mystical tradition from abroad she has come across today. Because she has an artist's heart and mind. Because her intelligence and her beauty of spirit always shines through. Because she shares my vision of the world. (We won't mention how she makes me shop. That's definitely a problem.)

- Bean's pad: because she is a friend from the past and I enjoy having a window on her new life across the miles, because of her diligently green lifestyle, her love of nature, and her appreciation for the simple pleasures, because of her beautiful boy, her clean and lovely Swiss style, and her inimitable sense of color which always makes me smile.

- Lanterns and Lotus Blossoms: Because Heather's two beautiful girls are always so lovely together, like something from a fairytale! Because of her gorgeous and lush style, her bright colors and her constant sense of fun.

- Four Little Hawks: because sweet Jen has such a beautiful and generous heart, because her pure spirit shines through everything she does, because she is a dog lover like me and a wonderful mother (oh, and she has a beautiful Xuzhou boy, like our QiuQiu!)

...and, if I might be allowed to break the rules just a little, I want to add one of my new favorite design blogs to the mix:

- Bloesem Kids: this is not someone I know, but a blog that I love to follow as I create a world for our daughter. Brilliant and unique ideas for kids' rooms, one-of-a-kind toys and handmades, and off-the-beaten-track book reviews. If I need inspiration, whether it's for a children's illustration or for Flynn's nursery, I can always find it here.