Blogs for Broads
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do less. live more.
The blogs (and other Internalia) below are all different, but united in one thing: They are either made for or made by (or both!) women doing cool stuff. Do you have a favorite blog, podcast or Instagram page that you love? Share it in the Comments section at the bottom of this page.
Escape to France
Sometimes the best way to get through the day is to fantasize about having a different life. For example, you could envision yourself as Sharon Santoni living the life she describes in her blog My French Country Home. If you're imagining a crumbling, elegant chateau with wisteria cascading down its facade, you'd be pretty much on target. Ditto croissants. Santoni is also an author--if you need more Francophile envy to get you through the next diaper change you could check out her book My Stylish French Girlfriends--and now has a subscription service offering a seasonal box of sweet nothings crafted in France.
Photo by Massimiliano Donghi on Unsplash
Savor Singlehood
Continuing in the Francophile theme, Shannon Ables is a school teacher living in Bend, Oregon, with a penchant for all things French. While this blog and podcast can definitely veer in the direction of self-help, I adore Ables' embrace of her single status (she is 39), including her total ownership of everything from independent travel, business building, homemaking for one, and staying fit with her "boys" (her two dogs). I wish I had known about this blog and podcast when I was flying solo; I think I would have enjoyed it more. As it is, listening to Ables talk about long quiet walks with her dogs or her evenings sipping tea and eating truffles is an escape to another life, and a great reminder that single life can be a great life too.
Indulge your inner coupon-cutting, home-schooling alter-ego
If I have little in common with the previous blogger/podcaster, I think it's safe to say that I have even less with Crystal Paine (aka, Money Saving Mom), but I still enjoy reading about her life as a homeschooling, Bible reading, coupon cutting media mogul. Paine is an avid reader and clutter clearer (so I guess we do have some things in common). I love her frugality (she and her husband have only paid cash for their two houses) combined with her admission that she loves being a business woman (her blog has been so successful that her husband was able to leave his job as a lawyer...before they bought a house with cash). I also really like her attempts to stay grounded and live a family life that is spiritually-based, even if it's not my own spiritual outlook. Paine definitely writes from a white, middle-class, Christian perspective but doesn't bang anyone over the head with it. If Sharon Santoni is the sophisticated retiree you aspire to be, Crystal Paine is the mom next door who finds your kid running down the middle of the street in his diaper, brings him home, and graciously never mentions it to anyone.
Photo by Marten Bjork on Unsplash
Own It
The "Secrets of Wealthy Women" podcast from the Wall Street Journal covers just what it sounds like it might. Some recent episodes have featured author Linda Fairstein (whose career is considered by many to be the inspiration for Law & Order SVU), Sandra Bernhard, and Melissa Ben-Ishey (founder of Baked by Melissa), as well as bigger names like Gloria Steinem and Hillary Clinton. The episodes are short and succinct--in part due to aggressive editing--and discuss women's careers, finances, and leadership experiences. Often inspirational, listening to Secrets of Wealthy Women is kind of like stepping into a time machine and listening to some version of your future self tell you how to navigate all the obstacles between you and world domination.
Or Work Your Way to Owning It
I came across Levo League--sort of embarrassingly--through Pinterest (remember that scene in Bad Moms, where she's at the bar talking about Pinterest? I found it relatable...a little too relatable). Despite the craft nerd source, I am a devotee of the Work Journal, which I first read about on Levo League, and which I blogged about HERE. Then, when I read Tiffany Dufu's book Drop the Ball and learned that she is affiliated with Levo League, my initial positive impressions were confirmed (I also wrote a blog post about Drop the Ball, which you can read HERE). Levo League is a Website targeted at professional women, but specifically at Millennials. They offer Webinars from influencers, informative blog posts, and networking and mentorship opportunities, all focusing on how women can more fully realize their professional potential...like a time machine took you to the beginning of your career and told you how to do it the right way from the start.
Change the world
This one is a two-fer. Call Your Girlfriend is conducted by two smart, sailor-mouthed best friends separated by approximately forty states (one lives in LA, one lives in Brooklyn). They talk fashion and dating, like any girlfriends, but they mostly talk politics. One of my favorite episodes was this one, in which they interviewed Kirsten Gillibrand and Katherine Clark. If you find this episode as inspiring as I did, I also recommend checking out Emily's List, an organization (and blog) dedicated to helping female Democratic candidates pursue positions of leadership in the U.S. government.
Live It (and Laugh at what it's not)
Fantasy lives are great, but sometimes what you need the most is something you can relate to. Enter podcast "The Longest Shortest Time." Started by mom Hillary Frank (in her bedroom), this podcast has been running for seven years. I discovered it when I had my first baby and, though I don't remember the topic of the actual episode, I do remember that it made me cry. Not like sad cry, like relief cry, like 'finally, someone gets it' cry. Episodes cover wide-ranging topics like sexual health after childbirth, to infertility, to how you raise a family when you travel with the Broadway show Wicked. As a special side note, The Longest Shortest Time--which is just a great title, no?--also led me to the site It's Like They Know Us, which made me cry like I can't actually breathe because I'm laughing so hard' cry...the best kind of crying there is.
Seriously, if you do one thing for yourself today, visit It's Like They Know Us. YOU. WILL. CRY.
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