Sites I Follow

Happy Friday everyone,

I hope you all are enjoying the start to your weekend, and end to the short week. I am writing from a rainy/snowy (God can't decide what to give us right now) Yucca Valley.

I wanted to bring attention to a new part of my blog: on the left and column, you will see that I've added what sites I follow. I added this because I continually go on these sites in my spare time (read: when Caroline's asleep, and I am procrastinating from MBA work), but also because not all of them are mainstream, and I think most of you would like them. So here's a quick summary of each:

Freakonomics Blog - This is a blog that goes along with the Freakonomics books. I've not read the books (although I want to, in part because my dad loves to make references to it), but the concept is that lots of basic things in life can be explained by economics. I am no Econ guru, in fact I barely squeaked out a B- in the one Econ course I took in college (a huge class of 1,000, and I, cocky freshman out of "elite" boarding school, was appalled at the time that I couldn't manage to be in the top 500 of the class. Shame on me). Anyway, this is my kind of economics...not dwelling on price ceilings or cartels, just teaching it in every day terms...I think you'd like it.

Forbes Woman - This is a website for Forbes' new quarterly magazine, Forbes Woman, that goes out to female Forbes subscribers. I'm not a subscriber of Forbes myself, but I saw this magazine while waiting in an office a few months ago. It was great - really hits on interesting and relevant points on women in business, without being obnoxiously feminist (something that I personally think sets women back within the workplace...if we are supposed to be equals to men, why constantly talk about feminism? But just my opinion...). Really cool articles on there, like the top social networking sites and blogs run by women, or 12 business points every woman should know. Again, even if you don't work in an office (says Louisa, as she types in sweats on a Friday morning right next to her sleeping daughter), you'll pick up some great tips that you can apply to everyday life, like persuading your boyfriend/husband to watch that chick flick that he really doesn't want to watch. (Side note: this is how I persuaded Greg to watch "The Notebook": "there's a war scene in it! Part of the movie is about WWII!". No need to mention 1 minute of the movie is about the war...)

Mrs. O - I found out about this site from my friend, Caroline Batchelor. I think I have the same views of Mrs. O (that's Obama) that my Dad has. Without getting too political, I voted for the Navy grad in the last election, and still think he's pretty awesome, along with being semi-ancient. However, I think Mrs. O's fashion ROCKS. My Dad thinks this too, as she helped boost J. Crew's stock last year, which he owned. This site is purely dedicated to all of the fabulous outfits she wears, which I wish I owned. I also wish I had her arms. But so does every other woman in America.

Marine Corps Times  - This is exactly what it sounds like: a newspaper devoted to USMC news. This is very helpful when I want up to date info on (public) war strategy, news about pay raises/new benefits, and general news related to the USMC. It's updated all the time, and is really interesting....sometimes I even find out stuff before Greg does!

Test Kitchen Secrets - Cooking Light - I found this site after I got into America's Test Kitchen, which my sister Katherine introduced to me. She made the most fabulous gazpacho for my baby shower this summer from America's Test Kitchen, so I've gotten into looking for the best recipe from test kitchens before I cook now. This blog goes through some of these recipes.

Sunset Traveler - For all of you non-West Coasters, Sunset is pretty much the best magazine ever. Think Southern Living for the West Coast (that's exactly what it is....it's owned by the same company). Sunset Traveler is even better, because everyone knows that the best part of these mags are the travel reviews. And, living in Southern California, a lot of their travel reviews are right in my backyard (or, in Cali terms, less than 3 hours away). Mostly the blog covers off the beaten path places that are really good in touristy areas (Tahoe, Big Sur, Half Moon Bay, and Santa Barbara are some recent posts).

I hope this has given you an insight into what my favorite "places" on the internet are (besides the obvious two...the first begins with T and ends with Z, the second begins with F and ends in Book).

Enjoy exploring!