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Blogs are a lot like shoes. Some practically teach and inform, offering sensible data for the reader to digest and apply, like Simple Mom, Alpha Mom, and I Heart Faces.

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Other blogs have a well-defined niche and a lovely, inspiring focus, like frugal lifestyle blogger Jen, or the home blogs – Kimba and my Blissdom roomates: My sister The Nester, Melissa, and Sandy. Their creative ideas for how to make the home you have right now become the home you’ve always wanted leave me feeling empowered and encouraged to make small changes in the way I think about my home that bring about rewarding results for my family.

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Still other blogs are a mix of both: practical because they offer products for sale, but also inspiring because their wares are so lovely, like those of Lisa Leonard, Lindsey Cheny and Gussy.

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And then there are the writerly blogs, written by women who have hearts I admire, the kind where you know when you read, you will see a bit of yourself and a bit of another and maybe a glimpse of God. They put things into words that weren’t there before, and for that I am equal parts jealous and thankful. When I read Amber, Emily, Melissa, Megan and Arianne, it’s as if I’ve come home.

I almost didn’t go to Blissdom this year.

My time last year was incredible, but I left feeling a little lost, as though perhaps I wasn’t doing this blog thing right. The writerly types weren’t as visible last year. I have no craft to sell, no niche to define me and not one practical top ten list. I left wondering if the writing was enough, like maybe I needed to go out and find a new pair of shoes.

I don’t feel that way anymore, as I have been on a journey of discovering the value of quality content and that writing your passion applies no matter what kind of shoes you wear. I was excited to speak with such intelligent, articulate and passionate women (Deb, Isabel and Amber) on a panel called Content is Queen. Angela attended our session and wrote a nice recap, if you are interested.

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Melissa, A Familiar Path; Emily, Remodeling This Life; Amber, The Run A Muck

I loved being at Blissdom this year. I love the women and the diversity and the grown-up-ness of it all (thank you Alli and Barbara!) I appreciated the two separate focuses: the business side of blogging and the writing side of blogging. Blissdom definitely had her big girl pants on this year. And she was wearing all kinds of shoes.

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Each shoe pictured in this post did indeed attend Blissdom, as did each person who was linked to. If you would like to see more photos of people (and shoes), feel free to browse my flickr photo stream here.